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CQE3?EGi!iT DEPOSJT. 




A CUBAN ROAD 



CUBA 

PAST AND PRESENT 



BY 
A. HYATT VERRILL 

Author of "Porto Rico Past and Present and 

San Domingo of To-day," "An American 

Crusoe," etc. 

Revised Edition with 1919 facts and figures 

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 




NEW YORK 

DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 

1920 



Copyright, 1914 
5y DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 

Copyright 1920 
By Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc. 



£0 -52**? 









©CU566159 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I CUBA OF THE PAST 1 

Discovery of Cuba, Its early history, Settle- 
ments, Attacks by Pirates, Wars, Revolu- 
tions, American intervention. 

II GEOGRAPHY AND CHARACTERISTICS 11 
Size, Surface Coast, Area, Fauna, Flora, 
Fertility, Resources, Wealth, Exports, 
Population, Condition, Health Climate. 

III LOOKING FORWARD ....... 20 

Cuba's health and sanitation, Its conditions 
under Spanish rule, Education, Modern 
methods, Improvements, Settlers in Cuba, 
The future of Cuban agriculture and de- 
velopment. 

IV LA HABANA 28 

Havana from the sea, The harbor and 
docks, Shipping, Skyline of Havana, 
Streets, Houses, Carriages and traffic, Cen- 
tral Park, Shops and stores, Coaches, Prado, 
Strolls about Havana, The Maledon and 
Vedado, Jail and other buildings, A drive 
through the city, Markets, Colon Park, 
Cigar factories, Plaza de Armas, Monu- 
ments and plazas, Government buildings and 
ancient forts, Cathedral and Columbus, 
Cemetery, Botanic gardens, Walls. 

V HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS ... 55 
How to keep healthy, Taking things easy, 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAG« 

Getting about, Carriage hire, Language, 
Money, Tips, Theatres, Lottery, Bathing, 
Country Club, Caf6 life, Native beverages, 
Cafes, Water, Fashions and dress, Peddlers, 
Railway station. 

VI THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA . ... 79 

The Morro and Cabana, Marianao and its 
beach, Guanajay and the rural districts, 
Regla and Guanabacoa, Cojimar and Casa 
Blanca, Auto roads, Madruga, Guines, Sugar 
mills, Cotorro, Special excursions. 



VII PLACES OF INTEREST AND HOW TO 

REACH THEM 88 

Trolley car service, Alphabetical list of in- 
teresting spots, Churches, Theatres. 

VIII THE PROVINCES OF CUBA . H H . 112 
Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas, Santa 
Clara, Camaguey, Oriente. 

IX THROUGH THE INTERIOR ..... 120 
Travel by the Cuba Railway, The interior 
towns. Character of the country, Industries- 
and resources, Scenery, Historical interest, 
The Trocha, Forest growths, American col- 
onies, Pirates, Scenes of battles, Lumbering, 
Mountain scenery, Santiago suburbs. 

X SANTIAGO AND ITS ENVIRONS . . .138 

The suburbs, Morro, The city streets, Cayo 
Smith, Hotels and restaurants, Churches, 
Drives and roads, El Caney, San Juan Hill, 
The Peace tree, Cobre and the image of 
Nuestra Senora de la Caridad. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XI THE SOUTHERN COAST AND ISLE OF 

PINES 149 

The Sierra Maestre, Manzanillo and Bay- 
amo, The Gardens of the Queen, Jucaro, 
Tunas de Zaza, Casilda and Trinidad, The 
City of a hundred fires, Batabano the "Lit- 
tle Venice," The Isle of Pines. 

XII MATANZAS AND THE NORTHERN 

PORTS 167 

Matanzas and the "Vale of Paradise." Car- 
denas. Sagua la Grande, Caibarien, San 
Fernando, Nuevitas and La Gloria, Puerto 
Padre and Chaparra, Gibara the landfall of 
Columbus, Holguin, Nipe Bay and Antilla, 
Baracoa, the first settlement. 

XIII THE HIGHROADS OF CUBA .~V%". 186 

XIV COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL CUS- 

TOMS ...„. 198 

XV CUBA'S MODEL CLUB . . „ *'\ M ,. . 208 

XVI HOTELS, RESTAURANTS AND OTHER 

ITEMS 216 

Hotels and their rates, Restaurants and 
cafes, What to eat and drink, Spanish dishes 
and their equivalents, Hotels in the interior. 

XVII A FEW FACTS AND FIGURES .... 225 

Area and population, Temperature and rain- 
fall, Health, Value of commerce, agricul- 
ture; Land and opportunities for invest- 
ment; Schools and transportation. 

XVIII CUBA'S SHARE IN THE GREAT WAR . 286 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

A Cuban Road .* Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

"Loma del Angel," the Narrowest Street in 

Havana 12 

Church of the Angels, Havana 30" 

In Colon Park, Havana 38 ' 

Central Park and Gallegos Club, Havana. ... 58" 

A Vendor of Fowls, Havana 70 ^ 

The Bamboo River, Cuba 82 

The "Templete," Havana 106 

Loading Cane, Santa Clara 122 - 

Peon's House in Camaguey 130 

The Morro, Santiago 140 

Monuments at San Juan Hill 148 

A Settler's Home in the Isle of Pines 156- 

Plowing with a Crooked Stick 180 

The Pinar del Rio Highroad 188 

Road in Santiago Province 196 



INTRODUCTION 

Cuba, with its splendid climate, its tropical ver- 
dure, its quaint old-world towns and its historic 
associations has long been a favourite resort for 
tourists and travellers. Long before the Spanish- 
American War or the destruction of the Maine, 
thousands of Americans and Europeans annually 
visited Cuba, and despite the drawbacks and dis- 
agreeable features of the Island under Spanish 
rule they were charmed with the climate and sur- 
roundings and raved over the life, colour and at- 
mosphere of Havana and Santiago. 

With the expulsion of the Spaniards and the 
end of the Spanish dominion in Cuba the Island 
rapidly improved, and under American rule and 
later its own Republican administration, Cuba's 
popularity increased until at the present time it 
is one of the greatest of winter resorts in the 
Western Hemisphere. 

Under Spanish rule the visitor practically took 
his life in his hands if he visited Cuba for any 



INTRODUCTION 

length of time. The towns and cities were filthy ; 
yellow fever and other dread diseases stalked un- 
checked and unhindered everywhere; thugs and 
brawlers lurked in the dark unlit streets and along 
the water-fronts and at any time rumours of an 
insurrection or the suspicions of the Spanish offi- 
cials were liable to place a foreigner in jeopardy 
of his life and liberty. 

To-day all this is changed. Cuba's streets are 
as clean and neat as any in the world ; disease has 
been stamped out and the Island can boast of 
being the second healthiest country in the world ; 
the water-front and the " slums " are ablaze with 
electric lights, are thoroughly policed and one is 
as safe as on upper Fifth Avenue in any part of 
the Island, while palatial hotels and every modern 
convenience make life in Havana as comfortable, 
luxurious and pleasant as the most exacting trav- 
eller could wish. 

Nevertheless many Americans still associate the 
Tropics with disease, dirt and discomfort and can- 
not realise that within three days of New York 
there is a smiling, luxuriant tropic land teeming 
with life and business, radiant with colour and 



INTRODUCTION 

light and combining the enchantment of oriental 
Spain with the luxuries, progressiveness and im- 
provements of twentieth-century America. 

Although Cuba is best known and is most to be 
recommended as a winter resort, yet in midsum- 
mer it has its attractions and many visitors find 
Cuba far more admirable in summer than in win- 
ter. At this season it is hot in the large coast 
towns it is true, but in the interior it is pleasant, 
and nowhere on the Island does the temperature 
soar into the nineties as it does in New York and 
our Northern towns. 

Moreover, in the summer, tropical fruits are at 
their best, flowers deck the country with a riot 
of colour and the miles of poinciana trees form 
masses of living flame, a gorgeous scene never 
dreamed of by those who have seen the Tropics 
only in the winter season. 

To tell just what the visitor to Cuba may ex- 
pect, just how to see the various points of in- 
terest, how to travel from place to place, what 
to do and what not to do, is the object of this 
book. The aim of the author has been to paint 
Cuba as it really is, — not as the steamship fold- 



INTRODUCTION 

ers or the hotel advertisements would have us be- 
lieve; and not to exaggerate its attractions nor 
to disparage it. Over a score of years ago the 
author visited Cuba and saw it at its worst under 
Spanish rule and on the brink of a devastating 
war, and with all its faults, all its drawbacks and 
all its disagreeable features he found it fascinat- 
ing beyond words. 

Again he has visited the Island and has seen it 
at its best; Cuba ruled by its own people; Cuba 
prosperous, modernised and rejuvenated; and 
while much of the old has been lost, the loss has 
been Cuba's gain, and Cuba, with its life, its cus- 
toms and its atmosphere, is still the fascinating 
land of enchantment as of yore. 

Aside from Cuba's attractions to the tourist, the 
traveller or the health-seeker, there are vast op- 
portunities for American settlers on the Island. 
Many Americans have made their homes in Cuba 
and many more are yearly emigrating to its 
shores. 

In the present volume the author has paid par- 
ticular attention to this phase of Cuba, and has 
set forth the actual conditions, facts and figures 



INTRODUCTION 

as he found them and as furnished from absolutely 
reliable sources, and he feels confident that in this 
work the prospective settler in Cuba, the tourist 
or the casual visitor will find a vast amount of 
useful and valuable information never before com- 
piled in any popular handbook of Cuba. 



CUBA 
PAST AND PRESENT 



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CHAPTER I 

CUBA OF THE PAST 

It was on October 28, 1492, that Columbus first 
sighted the beautiful island we now call Cuba and 
landed upon its northern coast. Although the 
great admiral was impressed with the marvellous 
fertility and beauty of this " Queen of the An- 
tilles " and wrote that it was the " most beautiful 
land that human eyes have ever seen," he never 
circumnavigated the Island — merely landing on 
the south shore at a later visit, 1502 — and he 
died in 1506, believing that Cuba was a continent 
or a portion of Asia. 

In 1508 the Spaniards, under Sebastian de 
Ocampo, explored the entire coastline of Cuba, 
demonstrating that it was an island, and on this 
trip the harbour of Havana was discovered. 
Here Ocampo careened his ships, pitching them 
with the soft asphalt still found in the hills of 

Guanabacoa and from this fact he named the bay 

l 



% CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

" Puerto de Carenas " or " Port of Careening." 
At this time the Island was inhabited by numbers 
of naked, peaceful, friendly savages, much like 
those of the Bahamas, while the verdure and lux- 
uriance of the land filled the Spaniards with won- 
der. 

The Island was at first named " Juana " in 
honour of the Prince John, son of Ferdinand and 
Isabella; but at the death of the king it was 
changed to " Fernandina." Later it was again 
altered to " Santiago " after the patron saint of 
Spain, and still later it was again changed to 
" Ave Maria " after the Virgin Mary. The pres- 
ent name " Cuba " was the name by which the 
Island was known to the native Indians and which 
freely translated signifies a "jar of oil." 

In 1511 another expedition, under command 
of Don Diego Velasquez and consisting of four 
ships and about 300 men, set out from Santo 
Domingo for Cuba. This expedition was sent 
forth by Diego Columbus, the son of Christopher, 
who was then governor of Hispaniola, and with 
the fleet sailed Don Hernando Cortes, who later 
became famous as the conqueror of Mexico. 



CUBA OF THE PAST 3 

Velasquez landed first at a port on the southern 
coast which he named Las Palmas and which was 
near the present town of Guantanamo, but this 
was not deemed a favourable spot for a settle- 
ment and it was not until 1512 that the town of 
Baracoa was founded on the northern coast. 
After seeing Baracoa established, Velasquez sailed 
to the southern coast and founded Bayamo and 
Trinidad, and finally entert I the magnificent har- 
bour of Santiago which he founded in 1514. 

In 1515 Velasquez established a settlement at 
the mouth of the Guines River on the southern 
coast which he called " San Cristoval de Habana," 
but the name was in 1519 transferred to the pres- 
ent Havana and San Cristoval became known as 
Batabano. 

In 1519 a number of settlers were transferred 
from Batabano to the present site of Havana and 
their landing place may still be seen at a small 
chapel called the " Templete," while near at hand 
is a silk-cotton tree — a scion of the original 
ceiba under which the first mass was said at the 
landing. 

Havana soon became a very important port, 



4 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

for it was in a commanding position and ships 
passing through the Florida Channel or from 
Central American and Mexican ports made it their 
place of call. Its richness and prosperity soon 
attracted the attention of the freebooters who 
sailed the Spanish Main and early in its history 
the city was sacked by the pirates repeatedly. 

In fact, the early records of Cuba are almost 
wholly devoted to relating accounts of the manner 
in which the settlements were plundered and de- 
stroyed by pirates from England, Holland, and 
France. 

The importance of the town and its unprotected 
condition soon made it apparent that strong for- 
tifications were necessary, and in 1528 work was 
begun on two strong castles known as the " Bateria 
de la Punta," or the " Battery of the Point," and 
the " La Fuerza " or " Fort " ; both of which may 
still be seen with their ancient, mellow-tinted 
walls and quaint lantern-like sentry boxes. These 
two forts, together with the enormous castle 
known as the " Morro," on the opposite shore of 
the harbour, were not, however, completed for 
nearly a century and were still unfinished whes 



CUBA OF THE PAST 5 

Sir Francis Drake threatened the city in 1585 
and 1592 and when the Dutch buccaneers arrived 
in 1628. 

In 1538 Havana was totally destroyed by 
French privateers and to prevent another similar 
disaster, work on the fortifications was pushed 
diligently and the " Fuerza " was completed under 
the direction of Fernando de Soto in 1539. Again 
in 1554* the French sailed upon Havana which they 
attacked and reduced to ashes, despite the forts, 
and soon afterwards the additional fortresses of 
" La Punta " and " El Morro " were completed ; 
but it was not until 1665 that the city walls were 
begun and the city really became free from fre- 
quent pillage. 

From the time of the completion of the forts 
and walls Havana became almost impregnable and 
in its harbour countless ships and galleons lay 
safely at anchor while its streets were filled with 
throngs of people and its residences were occupied 
by many an illustrious grandee and famous con- 
quistador. Here died Ponce de Leon, founder of 
Porto Rico and discoverer of Florida, who was 
brought to Cuba fatally wounded by an Indian 



6 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

arrow; here Pamphilo de Narvarez outfitted his 
ill-fated expedition that in 1528 penetrated Flor- 
ida and disappeared forever; and from Havana's 
harbour sailed forth in 1539 the greatest of all 
the expeditions, — that of De Soto. With pomp 
and ceremony, the blare of trumpets, fluttering 
banners and hundreds of mail-clad men, the ships 
set out ; but the leader was left resting beneath the 
waters of the Mississippi while poor Dona Isabel 
— De Soto's wife — gazed westward from Ha- 
vana's parapets and watched through weary 
months for the return of the ships, finally dying 
of a broken heart as she realised the fate that had 
befallen them. 

Until 1608 Santiago was still the capital of 
Cuba, in which year the seat of government was 
transferred to Havana, where it has remained ever 
since. 

Santiago was as frequently attacked by pirates 
as Havana before the Morro and other forts were 
completed, and in 1553 a French privateer in- 
vaded the harbouir and for two days fought a 
desperate battle with a Spanish cruiser, only to 
retreat on the third day disabled and in an almost 



CUBA OF THE PAST 7 

sinking condition. The same year a force of 400 
French buccaneers attacked and captured the 
town, held it for a month and only withdrew upon 
the payment of an $80,000.00 ransom. A similar 
fate also befell Havana in 1534 and 1554 and 
again in 1624, the French and Dutch in turns cap- 
turing and holding the town for ransoms. 

Not alone from freebooters and sea rovers did 
the Cubans suffer. Europe was constantly in a 
state of war and in 1662 the English attacked 
Santiago with nearly 1,000 men, carried off all 
the treasures, slaves, church bells and guns from 
the forts and left the town penniless, destitute and 
at the mercy of any enemy. The city soon re- 
covered, however, and in 1663 the Morro was re- 
built and through storm and flood, stress and war, 
has withstood the shower of shot and shell, of 
earthquake and of hurricane, and still stands — 
frowning, grim and defiant upon the lofty cliffs 
above the entrance of the harbour it has guarded 
so well. 

Havana has not at all times been Spanish, how- 
ever, for in 1762 Lord Albermarle, with a fleet 
of over 200 ships and an army of some 15,000 



8 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

men, assisted by colonial troops from New Eng- 
land with " Old Wolf Putnam " in command of a 
regiment, arrived off the harbour. The Span- 
iards, completely taken by surprise and entirely 
unprepared for an invasion, hastily assembled a 
few troops and for nearly a month put up a de- 
termined and obstinate resistance^ On July 3 
the Morro was blown up and partly destroyed and 
the English from this point trained their guns 
on the city forts which were obliged to surrender 
on August 14. For a year Havana was under 
British domain but it cost England and her colo- 
nies dearly, for no less than 30,000 lives and 
$16,000,000.00 were required to capture the city, 
which in the following year was exchanged for 
Florida. 

For nearly a century Cuba prospered, — almost 
undisturbed by foreign or domestic troubles, — al- 
though the misrule, cruelty and oppressiveness of 
the Spaniards gradually paved the way for rebel- 
lion, slaughter and the ultimate loss of the Island 
to the crown of Spain. 

So unbearable had the condition of the Cubans 



CUBA OF THE PAST 9 

become that in 1848 the United States offered 
Spain $100,000,000.00 for Cuba but the offer was 
refused, whereupon the Cubans commenced prep- 
arations for open rebellion. 

The Narciso Lopez outbreaks in 1850 and '51 
were futile and many lives were lost, but in 1868 
a rebellion blazed forth which lasted through ten 
long years, ravaged the Island from end to end 
and was terminated only by the treaty known as 
the Peace of Zanjon which Spain soon abro- 
gated. 

Although important reforms were promised they 
were never fulfilled and in 1895 the most formid- 
able of all rebellions broke out in the Island. 

This revolution soon grew to such an extent that 
in 1905 Marshal General Campos was sent out 
from Spain, but in suppressing the rebellion he 
failed and the notorious " Butcher " Weyler suc- 
ceeded him. Although Weyler did everything in 
human power to suppress the revolution — re- 
sorting to inconceivable cruelties and the most ex- 
treme measures — yet the rebellion steadily grew 
in extent, while Weyler was succeeded by Blanco ; 
the war continued, and the culmination came in 



10 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

1898 with the destruction of the Maine in Havana 
harbour. 

Within one hundred days thereafter Cuba was 
freed from Spain and on the first of January, 
1899, Blanco and the last Spanish soldiers set 
sail for Spain and the Stars and Stripes waved 
from the ancient forts and buildings over which 
for so many years had flaunted the red and yellow 
banner of Castile and Leon. 

For three years Cuba remained an American pos- 
session and under the military government of the 
United States a wonderful work of reformation, 
reconstruction, sanitation, and improvement was 
carried out, until on May 20, 1902, Tomas Es- 
trada Palma took his office as first president of 
" Cuba Libre " and the Island was launched forth 
as a new republic with a glorious future, unwonted 
prosperity and untold resources before it. 



CHAPTER II 

GEOGEAPHY AND CHABACTEEISTICS 

Cuba — the very name conjures visions of ro- 
mance, beautiful women, soft music-filled nights 
and cigars, and — were the truth known — in the 
minds of most people cigars are more intimately 
associated with thoughts of Cuba than anything 
else. 

Cuba, the " Pearl of the Antilles," is the largest 
of the West Indies and is the nearest island of 
importance to the United States, as from Key 
West to Havana is less than 100 miles. 

From Cape Maysi on the east to Cape San An- 
tonio on the west, Cuba stretches for nearly eight 
hundred miles and from north to south it varies 
in width from twenty t? one hundred miles; the 
total area being about 45,000 square miles; six 
times the size of Jamaica or a trifle larger than 
the State of Pennsylvania; while, if placed on a 

map of the United States, it would cover a space 

11 



12 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

the width of New Jersey and stretching from New 
York to Indianapolis. 

About one-fourth of the surface is rough and 
mountainous, some three-fourths of the remaining 
area plains and rich valleys, and the small balance 
swamps. 

The majority of people — and even those who 
have visited Havana — imagine Cuba as a flat, 
rather level island. In reality, the Island is ex- 
ceedingly mountainous in many places and the 
summits of the Sierra Maestra range in the south- 
eastern part of the Island are among the loftiest 
in the West Indies ; the highest peak, Pico Tur- 
quino, towering to the clouds for a height of 8,320 
feet and surpassing the Blue Mountains- of 
Jamaica by 1,000 feet and second only to Loma 
Tina of San Domingo in altitude. 

The shore line of Cuba is very broken and irreg- 
ular, with numberless bays, lagoons and coves and 
with over 600 small islets or " cays " off the north 
shore and over 700 off the south shore. While 
these islands render the navigation of Cuban wa- 
ters dangerous and difficult yet at the same time 
Ithey serve to break the force of wind and waves 




LOMA DEL ANGEL" 
THE NARROWEST STREET IN HAVANA 



GEOGRAPHY 13 

and Cuba has more good ports, for a place of its 
size, than any other island in the world. In fact, 
one of the Island's nicknames is the " Isle of One 
Hundred Harbours," more than fifty of the har- 
bours being ports of entry and practically land- 
locked. 

Flowing across the broad and fertile plains from 
the distant mountains and emptying their waters 
into the Caribbean and the Atlantic, are numerous 
rivers, many of them broad and beautiful, but 
only one — the Cauto, near the eastern end of the 
Island — being navigable for any great distance. 

In many places near the coasts, and particularly 
in the south-central district, are large swamps, 
while in the eastern provinces are extensive forests 
and in the mountains are rich mineral deposits. 

With its varied surface, its tropical climate and 
its rich soil, Cuba offers ideal conditions for rich 
and luxuriant vegetation and the flora comprises 
over 3,000 species, while the forests contain such 
valuable woods as mahogany, lignum-vitae, grana- 
dilla, sweet cedar, logwood, sandal wood, red 
sanders, etc. ; the forest area covering nearly fifty 
per cent, of the Island's surface, more than 



14 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

1,200,000 acres being government land. In addi- 
tion, every tropical fruit, flower, plant and prod- 
uct thrives luxuriously in Cuba, while in the moun- 
tains and high interior plains many temperate 
products may be raised. 

Though so rich in flora, Cuba is poor in fauna 
— ' save for birds and insects — the only native 
mammals being the odd Solenodon or " Almiqui " 
and the giant tree-rat or Capromys, known locally 
as the " Hutia." Deer have, however, been in- 
troduced and in many districts deer hunting is a 
favourite pastime. 

The birds of Cuba are very numerous, including 
over 200 species, many of them magnificently 
beautiful in colour, others with wonderful songs, 
while a number are true " game birds " and are 
much hunted. The marine fauna is very rich, the 
bays, rivers and seas abounding in food fishes, 
crabs, shrimps and lobsters, while manatees are 
found in the swamps and river mouths and shell- 
fish and crawfish are also abundant. 

Serpents and other reptiles are common but are 
non-poisonous. Alligators are found in the 
swamps, iguanas and other lizards abound, and 



GEOGRAPHY 15 

numerous snakes, the largest of which is the Cuban 
boa or maja, are common in the forests. 

The insect fauna of Cuba, as in all tropical 
countries, is very rich and numerous, scorpions, 
centipedes, tarantulas, and giant cockroaches be- 
ing common, while giant fireflies make the nights 
glorious with their myriads of twinkling, glowing 
lights. Of troublesome insect pests Cuba has its 
share, for mosquitoes, fleas, ticks and the " chigo w 
or " jigger " all occur, but are seldom troublesome 
to the traveller, save in outlying districts or the 
poor native huts. 

In fertility and resources Cuba is remarkable 
and is exceeded only by San Domingo, and as the 
latter island is undeveloped a comparison of the 
two countries is of little value. 

Even under Spanish rule Cuba was wonderfully 
rich and prosperous and since she has become an 
independent republic her commerce and industries 
have increased marvellously. 

Indeed, Cuba is an intensely commercial country, 
importing nearly everything she consumes and 
exporting virtually all she produces. Since 1902, 
when the republic began, up to 1919, Cuba's for- 



16 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

eign commerce has increased 500 per cent, with 
the balance of trade largely in favor of the re- 
public. The United States plays a predominating 
role in both the export and import trade of the 
republic, buying vast quantities of sugar, tobacco, 
iron and copper ore, and selling to the Cuban 
merchants foodstuffs, textiles, boots and shoes, 
steel products, coal and lumber. Cuba's principal 
crop is sugar, next in value is tobacco, while citrus 
fruits, bee products, hard woods, molasses are 
important products which bring large returns to 
the native planters, many of whom are very 
prosperous. 

Moreover, Cuba is not over-populated, for with 
its population of 2,700,000 there are but fifty- 
three persons to the square mile, as compared to 
330 in Porto Rico, 425 in England, 315 in Ger- 
many, 317 in Japan, 310 in Italy, 500 in Rhode 
Island, 600 in Belgium and 1,000 in Bermuda, al- 
though Cuba could easily support more inhabi- 
tants to the square mile than any of the above 
countries. 

There is a popular belief that a large proportion 
of the Cubans are negroes or coloured, but as a 



GEOGRAPHY 17 

matter of fact only 30 per cent, are coloured, the 
balance or 70 per cent, being of pure Spanish 
descent or whites from other countries. 

Cuba to-day is a progressive, orderly, healthy 
and modern country with over 5,000 schools, 
splendid sanitation, excellent hospitals, magnifi- 
cent public institutions, and a marvellously effi- 
cient police force which has rendered the Island 
one of the safest places in the world. The trans- 
portation facilities consist of over 2,500 miles of 
steam railways, nearly 300 miles of electric rail- 
ways, a thousand miles and more of splendid 
macadam highroads, numerous coastwise steamers 
and twenty-two steamers a week to the United 
States, not to mention the various ships sailing 
to South and Central America, Europe and the 
West Indies. 

Within the past few years numbers of foreign 
immigrants and colonists have flocked to the Is- 
land, attracted by the low price of land and the 
superlatively productive soil; the average yearly 
immigration amounting to nearly 45,000 people. 
Many foreigners have taken up land in Cuba and 
have done well, for the native markets and for- 



18 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

eign export trade demand far more than the sup- 
ply of fruits, vegetables and other products raised. 
Garden truck yields anywhere from $100.00 to 
$400.00 per acre. Citrus fruits yield from $50.00 
to $500.00; tobacco is planted, grown and gath- 
ered in ninety days and often brings a profit of 
five hundred dollars an acre ; while sugar cane, on 
the best soil, may be cut for fifty years without 
transplanting. In most places, however, irriga- 
tion is necessary to insure a profitable crop of 
tobacco or vegetables and without it the crops 
are often a total loss. 

In point of health Cuba is the second healthiest 
country in the world, Australia alone being bet- 
ter, with Porto Rico third, the death rate per 
thousand in Cuba being but 12.69, while in the 
United States it is 15.00. The climate—* 
though tropical — is seldom oppressively hot, 
save in the coast towns, and the nights are usually 
cool and pleasant. The average range of mean 
temperature is but 12 degrees F. with a July 
average of 82.4 and a January average of 70.3 
and an extreme range of from 60 to 92. In the 
mountains the average temperatures are much 



GEOGRAPHY 19 

lower and the nights are often so cool that blan- 
kets and light overcoats are required. The rain- 
fall is not excessive, the average being fifty-four 
inches a year and the winter months are usually 
dry with showers during the summer or rainy sea- 
son. On the coasts the rainfall is far less and 
in the interior far more than the average given, 
but as compared with other tropical islands the 
rainfall is comparatively light. 



CHAPTER IH 

LOOKING FORWARD 

A great many people know much less about Cuba 
than about far distant countries, although it is 
so close to our shores and the real truth about 
this island is seldom known save to those who have 
actually visited it. 

It is a common idea that Cuba is a veritable 
plague spot with a torrid temperature, unbear- 
able in summer, and with a turbulent, undesirable 
people ; a country covered with vast swamps where 
poisonous reptiles and malignant fevers lurk, and 
in fact a country dangerous to visit and fatal to 
live in — save for a few days or weeks in the tour- 
ist season. 

In reality the very contrary is the case. Cuba 
is the second healthiest country in the world; its 
climate in summer never reaches the terrific, swel- 
tering, humid heat of our Northern cities; there 

are no poisonous snakes ; the swamps are few and 

20 



LOOKING FORWARD 21 

only on the coast; fevers seldom or never occur 
in the interior and even in the coast towns, where 
formerly yellow fever and malaria abounded, the 
elimination of mosquitoes has stamped " Yellow 
Jack " from the Island and nearly wiped out 
malaria. 

The Cubans themselves are quiet, sober, hos- 
pitable and peaceful — the very fact that for so 
many years they remained loyal to Spanish mis- 
rule proves this — but like all Latin races they 
are temperamental, quick-tempered, haughty, 
proud and inclined to be lazy and to put every- 
thing off to manana. 

Cuba has always been famous as among the rich- 
est agricultural countries on the globe, consider- 
ing the size and population of the Island. Even 
under Spanish military rule Cuba was highly 
profitable, and for over twenty years paid an an- 
nual revenue to Spain of from twenty to forty 
million dollars. 

At that time there were but some 1,200,000 peo- 
ple on the Island and less than ten per cent, of the 
land was cultivated. Think of it! Little more 
than a million people paying an average of 



n CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

30,000,000 dollars annually or practically $30.00 
per capita — almost as great for each inhabitant 
as the total per capita circulation of the United 
States ! In no other country could such a situa- 
tion be found and yet this heavily taxed and terri- 
bly mistreated people paid this enormous tribute, 
and, more wonderful yet, they lived, had numerous 
luxuries and many of them grew rich. 

If such was the condition before Cuba gained 
her freedom, what may we not expect when under 
her own rule and zealously watched, guarded, and 
fostered by the United States. For many years 
Americans and other foreigners would have been 
glad indeed to invest money in Cuba if it could 
have been safely accomplished under Spanish rule ; 
but to-day capital is flowing in with wonderful 
rapidity for the Cuban government is guaranteed 
stability by our own government and American 
investors are as safe in Cuba as in the United 
States. As the population of Cuba increases at 
the rate of 90,000 a year and births exceed deaths 
by 45,000 yearly, the population will soon double 
and treble and with the increase of population so 
also will the productiveness and resources increase. 



LOOKING FORWARD 23 

Each year and month and day the people are 
being educated, are becoming more intelligent, and 
are learning to improve conditions so that none 
can foresee or can begin to estimate what prosper- 
ity may be Cuba's in another twenty years. 

With a soil unequalled in fertility, an ideal cli- 
mate, health second to but one land in the world, 
scenery that rivals that of California and the 
great markets of America within three days of her 
doors, no country has a more brilliant prospect 
than the " Pearl of the Antilles." 

Possibly no other event since the liberation of 
the Island will affect the future of Cuba as much as 
the opening of the Panama Canal and already the 
benefits are being felt. All over the fertile Island 
modern methods and progress are pushing out the 
old-time, slow-going methods and conservatism 
and, best of all, the old-time customs are giving 
way — not to a foreign invasion that will destroy 
the national character, language and traditions 
of a people as in Porto Rico — but to a rejuvena- 
tion, a transition and a newer, more liberal, 
brighter life brought about by the Cubans them- 
selves for their own race and children. 



24 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Throughout the Island the crude, thatched hovel 
is giving place to neat cottages, the lumbering ox 
carts are being supplanted by spring wagons, 
automobiles speed over many miles of roads 
whereon mule-trains were formerly the only means 
of transportation. Wells and windmills have 
generally supplanted the water carts and irriga- 
tion has made countless parched acres to blossom 
and bear and add their bountiful crops to the 
Island's whole. In the old Spanish days sugar 
and tobacco were practically the only money- 
making crops, for the Spanish government pro- 
hibited raising many articles considered essential 
until the native planter had become thriftless, 
careless and discouraged and by the smallest pos- 
sible amount of labour secured enough returns 
from his two crops to pay his tribute to the crown 
and support himself and family in comparative 
comfort. 

With the advent of shrewd, trained agricultural- 
ists and modern methods all this has been changed 
and by leaps and bounds the fertile land is being 
transformed into the most productive of all gar- 
den spots. 



LOOKING FORWARD 25 

Moreover, the Cuban is ready and willing to 
learn from his American neighbours, and as he sees 
these strangers succeed and grow rich, he too aims 
to do the same, and while it still remains for the 
American settler to lead the way to improved con- 
ditions, yet on every hand the Cuban is found at 
his side, learning, helping and with each mutually 
benefitting from the other's store of experience 
and knowledge. 

Not all the settlers in Cuba will succeed; hard 
work, perseverance and patience are required, for 
no form of agriculture — no matter where situ- 
ated — was ever or will be ever a " get-rich- 
quick " proposition. 

Many settlers have, however, succeeded almost 
beyond belief and even in those particular lines in 
which the Cubans were supposed to excel all 
others. While Cuban tobacco has long been rec- 
ognised as the finest in the world it has often been 
assumed that much of its success was due to the 
care and cultivation which only Cubans could 
master. In reality, while it is perfectly true that 
what a Cuban does know of tobacco he knows as 
well or even better than any one else in the world, 



26 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

the lack of education, of experience, of years of 
scientific research and study which have benefitted 
our tobacco growers has handicapped the Cuban. 
In one or two seasons of observation of local con- 
ditions the Northern farmer can acquire all that 
it has taken the Cuban generations to learn. By 
adding what he has thus acquired to Yankee com- 
mon sense and modern scientific methods, the 
American can secure a better quality of tobacco 
than Cubans ever dreamed of and with the in- 
creased size of leaves, superior quality and greater 
yield come higher prices. 

In the past the great drawback to Cuban agri- 
culture has been the lack of water, for in dry 
seasons there was a poor crop or in wet seasons 
the fields were flooded ; but now, with wells, wind- 
mills and irrigation systems a good crop is always 
assured and an abundance of water is ever at hand. 

These facts are no truer of tobacco than of any 
other crop and while Americans are succeeding 
wonderfully well — where land and conditions are 
favourable — - yet the Cuban is also " making 
good," for the same indomitable spirit, untiring 
perseverance and bright hopefulness that led him 



LOOKING FORWARD 27 

through jungle and swamp in his fifty years' war 
against Spain will enable him to conquer all ob- 
stacles and to carve out a glorious future for him- 
self and his beloved " Cuba Libre." 



CHAPTER IV 

:la habana 

Havana, first seen at sunrise from the sea, is 
transcendingly beautiful and a sight never to be 
forgotten. To the left the grim old Morro stands 
out boldly on its rocky promontory, while to the 
right the flat-roofed, multicoloured town stretches 
for miles along the surf-bordered shore and bathed 
in the glorious rosy light of dawn the city appears 
like some wonderful pastel or like a scene from 
fairyland, in its setting of amethyst and turquoise 
sea, azure sky and distant green hills. 

Between the Morro and the town lies a strait of 
deep blue water scarce two hundred yards in width 
and as the ship steams slowly between the guns of 
the ancient " Punta " fort and the battlements of 
grey old Morro, we see before us the extensive 
harbour. Moored to buoys and to the immense 
concrete docks are scores of great ocean steam- 
ships flying the flags of every nation, while a for- 
28 



LA HABANA 29 

est of masts stretches for a mile or more along 
the waterfront where sailing vessels of every rig 
and country are loading and discharging cargoes 
at innumerable wharves and slips. Busy launches, 
bright coloured rowboats, clumsy droughers, 
fussy tugs and puffing ferryboats plough back 
and forth across the waters of the bay in every 
direction while the distant shriek of locomotive 
whistles, and the clang of trolley cars are borne 
faintly across the water from the town. 

As the visitor looks upon this mass of shipping, 
upon the busy wharves and the teeming water- 
front of the town, he realises that Havana is no 
small, crude, tropical town, but a huge, bustling, 
modern city and withal as foreign, as fascinating 
and as strange as any city of the old world. 

A few years ago Havana presented a low, even 
skyline of flat-roofed houses broken only by the 
old grey church towers with their ancient belfries. 
To-day modern, fireproof hotels and office build- 
ings rear their steel and concrete heights above 
the older edifices and towering smoke-belching 
chimneys mark the enormous electric power plant 
and various factories. 



30 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Although vast changes have been wrought in 
Havana by the erection of modern buildings, by 
the repaving of streets, by the installation of trol- 
ley lines and by modern methods of sanitation, yet 
the town as a whole remains unaltered. The life, 
the people, the customs and the charm of local 
atmosphere are the same as a score of years ago 
— modernity has improved it, has eliminated much 
of the bad and has robbed it of none of the good 
and has left it the same lovable, interesting and 
quaint old town as of yore. 

Most of Havana's streets are narrow and lead 
between massive old Spanish buildings fronting 
directly on the narrow sidewalks, and as the trav- 
eller drives or walks towards the central plaza 
and the hotel district he passes by great arched 
doorways leading to dim mysterious patios, by 
windows covered by iron bars and grillwork and 
by house-fronts decorated with wonderful designs 
in rich Spanish and Moorish tiles. 

Through these narrow streets flows a constant 
stream of traffic; pedestrians of every class, rub- 
ber-tired coches, rumbling drays and carts, 
huge auto trucks, chugging automobiles and 




CHURCH OF THE ANGELS, HAVANA 



LA HABANA 81 

clanging trolley cars. To the stranger it seems 
truly marvellous that so much traffic can wend its 
way through the narrow, congested thoroughfares 
and one constantly expects collisions and block- 
ades ; but the traffic officers are efficient, the drivers 
skilful and everything goes smoothly and without 
interruption and accidents seldom occur. 

Among the first unusual things which attract the 
attention of the visitor are the numerous canvas 
canopies stretched across the streets and which 
form a veritable covered way between the buildn 
ings on either side. Unlike our Northern awn- 
ings, thse Cuban affairs are far above the side- 
walks and are gaily decorated with paintings, 
signs and fringes and give the appearance of an 
Oriental bazaar to Havana's shopping district. 

Passing through these narrow, busy, downtown 
streets the visitor at last comes out upon the Cen- 
tral Plaza or " Parque Central " — the centre of 
Havana and the spot from which the main thor- 
oughfares and trolley lines radiate. Around this 
great open space are the numerous hotels and 
club houses, enormous stores and many theatres. 
The park itself is a lovely spot, — a place filled 



32 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

with palms, flowering shrubs, beds of bright-hued 
plants, and surrounded and shaded by scarlet- 
flowered flambeau trees. In the centre is the 
splendid statue of the martyred patriot Marti 
while innumerable electric lights transform the 
night into day, benches and settees are scattered 
under the trees and on certain evenings a band 
plays in the centre. 

On all four sides of the plaza are huge buildings, 
prominent among them being the modern fireproof 
Hotel Plaza, the Bazaar de Paris, the Asturias 
Club, the old Inglaterra Hotel and the wonder- 
fully ornate and beautiful Gallego Club, — a club- 
house built by clerks and workingmen and costing 
over a million dollars. 

Here, about the park, centres the gay night life, 
the theatre crowds and much of the business and 
traffic of Havana and here, perhaps better than 
anywhere else in the city, can the visitor find con- 
stant interest and amusement and can best see and 
appreciate Havana and the Havanese. 

Each of the several blocks which surround the 
park is occupied by a single massive building two 
or three stories in height, and surrounded by aA 



LA HABANA 33 

arcade formed of great pillars or columns leaving 
arched openings between. 

Under this shady colonnade one may wander in 
cool comfort and shop at the booths and stores 
that occupy the ground floor while on the street 
without the sun blazes down in tropical fervour 
and the air palpitates with heat. 

These arcades or bazaars are typical of Havana 
and are most interesting and fascinating places. 
All the stores open directly on the sidewalk, their 
doorways merely broad arches which are covered 
by rolling iron screens at night and here people 
shop, eat, drink and are shaved in full view of the 
passing throngs and practically in the open air. 
From side to side of the great buildings, — and 
often diagonally as well, — run passageways bor- 
dered by booths and small shops and here one 
sees the stock in trade of merchants of every con- 
ceivable kind. Clothing and shoe dealers are, 
however, in the majority and one marvels how so 
many shoes can be sold, even in a city the size of 
Havana. There are shoes of every style, shape, 
colour and class ; thousands upon thousands of 
shoes ; shoes on the floor, shoes in cases, shoes in 



34 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

piles behind the counters and shoes hung up and 
down upright posts until the whole place seems a 
veritable forest of some strange trees bearing 
countless shoes as fruit. How many shoes there 
are in even one of these bazaars is pure guesswork 
but a single shopkeeper confessed to thirty thou- 
sand dollars' worth and there are shoe-shops by 
the score in a single building. 

One may wander about one of these arcades and 
purchase any manner of article, for hats, china- 
ware, laces, toys, embroideries, musical instru- 
ments, groceries, tobacco and cigars, souvenirs and 
saddles are side by side and between the stores 
proper are numerous restaurants, cafes and bar- 
ber shops. 

Very different are the stores in the busy shop- 
ping districts of the town. In Calle O'Reilly or 
Calle Obispo one walks along beneath the shade of 
awnings and sees store after store with great 
plate glass windows, elaborate brass and mahog- 
any fronts and every modern convenience and a 
visit to Cuba would indeed be incomplete without 
many many hours spent in these quaint streets 
with their wonderful array of shops. One meet? 



LA HABANA 35 

with constant surprises and new experiences in 
Havana and in visiting the stores we will find 
many amusing and odd customs. It seems strange 
to a Northerner to find a store selling rosaries, 
crucifixes and lottery tickets or to see bicycles, 
clocks and sewing machines in the same window 
or to find guns and ammunition sold in a confec- 
tionery store; but the climax is reached when 
we discover a large shop doing a rushing business 
in bed quilts, mattresses and canary birds! 

Although the shopping district is interesting 
there are far more important and attractive spots 
to visit and as one soon becomes exhausted by 
walking and as the trolley cars are close and 
rather slow the visitor will do well to hire a coche, 
one of the quaint Victoria-like public carriages, 
and drive to the various points of interest. Of 
all things in Cuba the coches are the cheapest 
and most in evidence; they stand at every corner 
and on every street and for the modest sum of 
twenty cents one or two people may ride any- 
where in Havana from one point to another 
while a third passenger costs but five cents addi- 
tional. If longer drives are desired the coche 



36 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

may be hired for $1.00 to $1.25 per hour and in 
a few hours every point of interest in Havana may 
be visited. 

Just what should be seen first or just what route 
should be followed is a matter that each visitor 
must settle for himself, but no mistake will be made 
if the first drive includes the Prado, the Malecon 
and the Vedado. 

The Prado is a magnificent asphalted boulevard 
stretching from Colon Park to the Malecon, a dis- 
tance of nearly two miles, and with a beautiful 
park through its centre. In reality the Prado 
may be said to be a series of small parks with a 
boulevard on either hand and shaded by deep green 
laurel trees, flaming poincianas and graceful 
palms. Opposite the entrance to Colon Park 
stands a magnificent statue of an Indian goddess 
known as La Habana or La India and from this 
spot the visitor should drive slowly down the Prado 
to the sea-wall and the Malecon at the farther 
end. From La India to the sea the Prado is all 
beautiful and one cannot blame the Cubans for 
being enormously proud of it. On either hand the 
boulevard is bordered by splendid mansions, beau- 



LA HABANA 37 

tiful residences, handsome hotels and enormous 
club houses, while the cool green parklets in the 
centre combine to form a wonderful, shaded, airy 
promenade for pedestrians. During the day the 
Prado is always well filled with carriages, auto- 
mobiles and people afoot, but after sundown it 
fairly teems with life and it is doubtful if there 
is a noisier or more animated place in the world 
than the lower section of the Prado from early 
evening until long past midnight. 

Although the original Prado was designed and 
built by the Spaniards when General Tacon was 
in power, yet it was not really completed and 
brought to its present perfection until the Amer- 
ican intervention. At this time the Malecon was 
created, thus putting the finishing touch to the 
great parkway while the Prado itself was im- 
proved, remodelled and formed into one of the 
most attractive driveways in the world. 

At the Malecon the Prado ends in a broad, cir- 
cular, open space, in the centre of which stands a 
circular pavilion or band-stand, its roof supported 
by twenty Ionic columns and with tablets in- 
scribed with the names of famous composers. In 



S8 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

front of this little temple to music the sea-wall 
sweeps in a semicircle from the ancient Punta for- 
tress on the right to the Malecon drive on the left, 
while across the narrow harbour mouth the Morro 
towers above the sea with the lone-starred flag of 
Cuba fluttering above its ramparts. 

The old Punta fort is one of the original forti- 
fications of Havana, but to-day it is kept more 
as a curiosity than anything else, and its odd sen- 
try boxes, ancient guns and deep moat are very 
interesting. 

To the right of the Punta is a large savanna or 
open space covered with smooth green lawns, well- 
trimmed trees and beds of tropical verdure 
through which sweep broad asphalt drives. On 
the further side is the old Carcel or jail, a great, 
rambling, yellow building 300 feet in length, 250 
feet in width and designed to house 5,000 pris- 
oners. Herein was the dreadful garrote by which 
the Spaniards executed the condemned, and here, 
in Spanish days, prisoners were confined amid un- 
speakable conditions of filth and neglect. To-day 
it is clean, sanitary and neat and is occupied by 
the Board of Education and may be visited by ob- 




IN COLON PARK, HAVANA 



LA HABANA 39 

taining a permit from the municipal authorities. 
Midway between the Carcel and the Punta may 
be seen the remains of a demolished building bear- 
ing an inscribed tablet which commemorates the 
massacre of eight Cuban students which took place 
near the spot in 1871. They were accused of in- 
sulting the memory of a Spaniard and although 
acquitted by trial they were afterwards shot to 
appease the clamor of Spanish rabble for their 
death. To the left of La Punta a broad drive- 
way extends for several miles along the sea-wall. 
This is the Malecon proper and forms one of the 
pleasantest driveways imaginable, with rows of 
residences on one hand, on the other the deep blue 
sea from which a refreshing breeze blows almost 
ceaselessly. Continuing along the Malecon the 
visitor may reach the Vedado, passing on the way 
the leper hospital of San Lazaro and the odd, 
round watch-tower on the seaward side. The road 
here becomes poor, for the Malecon as planned 
has never been completed, but the native cocheros 
are equal to any occasion and will drive safely 
over gullies, rocks and trails that seem passable 
only for a goat. 



40 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

The Vedado is the residence district and con- 
tains many fine houses, but they are monotonous 
in the sameness of their sombre Spanish architec- 
ture and are usually half-hidden in a tangle of 
shrubs, palms and flowers which grow in riotous 
confusion with little attempt at orderly or attrac- 
tive arrangement or proper care. 

It is a pity that a district so well situated and 
with so many fine homes should have such poor 
streets, for the Vedado thoroughfares are poor be- 
yond description. In many places they are mere 
gulleys filled with boulders, deep ruts and stones 
and in rainy weather are ankle deep with mud. 
The streets are usually bordered with close-set 
laurels and other trees which cast a grateful shade, 
but in the midst of the section are many rubbish- 
strewn vacant lots with tumble-down sheds and 
outhouses standing close to magnificent homes and 
ruining the effect of the whole. 

From the Vedado one may return to the Central 
Park by any one of several routes, but the most 
attractive is probably by the way of Colon Ceme- 
tery, El Principe Fort, El Cerro and the Botanical 
Gardens. 



LA HABANA 41 

Colon Cemetery is very extensive, is filled with 
shrubs and trees and contains a great many mag- 
nificent monuments, notable among which are the 
shafts erected in memory of the massacred students 
already referred to and to the victims of the de- 
struction of the Maine. 

The entrance to the cemetery is surmounted by 
a sculptured arch bearing allegorical figures and 
a bas-relief of the crucifixion, the whole forming 
a most artistic and imposing gateway. Should 
a funeral be taking place the visitor will be fortu- 
nate, for the Cuban hearses are wonderful affairs 
and well worth seeing. Decorated with scarlet 
and gold they are drawn by six or more gaily ca- 
parisoned horses which are driven by liveried out- 
riders while on the box perch footmen in the gor- 
geous gold and crimson costumes, cocked hats and 
gold lace of the sixteenth century. 

To a Northerner they appear far more like cir- 
cus wagons than hearses, but they satisfy the 
Cubans and a deceased man's standing and wealth 
can be determined by the number of horses and 
gorgeousness of his funeral carriage. 

Fort Principe is a quaint, old-time fortress 



42 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

crowning a hilltop from ■which a magnificent view 
of the city may be obtained, and although at pres- 
ent used as a jail the projecting sentry boxes, the 
moat and drawbridge and the arms of Castile and 
Leon above the gateway are all interesting. 

Nearer the city is the Botanical Garden, a beau- 
tiful spot filled with a vast assortment of palms, 
ferns, orchids, shrubs, vines and flowers, artificial 
grottoes, cascades and pools and with wonderful, 
palm-bordered walks. It is not as well kept or as 
much frequented as it deserves and is capable of 
being transformed into a perfect paradise of trop- 
ical verdure with a little trouble and expense and 
with competent men in charge. 

From the Botanical Gardens one may return to 
Central Park through any one of numerous streets, 
among which are the beautiful avenues of Paseo 
Carlos III or Paseo Tacon, streets well maca- 
damised and shaded by double rows of trees and 
bordered by numerous fine residences. 

Such a drive as outlined will cover a large part 
of the most interesting and attractive portions of 
the city, but there are many sights to be seen and 



LA HABANA 43 

many points of interest to be visited within easy 
walking distance of the hotels. 

One of the first places which visitors to a strange 
country wish to see is the market. Havana has* 
several markets, the largest being the Tacon, a 
block from the Colon Park and but a few blocks 
from the Parque Central. 

Another large market is the Colon, situated be- 
tween Zuleta and Montserrate Streets but one 
block from the Hotel Plaza. Either of these mar- 
kets affords a most interesting sight to visitors 
and by strolling through them the stranger may 
obtain a very good idea of the numerous natural 
products of the Island. The closely packed stalls 
are mainly filled with fruits and vegetables, both 
tropical and temperate. Bananas of every size, 
colour and variety are everywhere and to the per- 
son familiar only with the common red and yellow 
varieties the multitudinous array of these popular 
fruits is simply marvellous. There are tiny, thin- 
skinned, sugar-sweet bananas; slender, green and 
red-spotted bananas, that look like some lizard or 
snake in colour; stout, stubby, orange and red 



44 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

bananas ; bananas that are green when ripe ; 
bananas that are covered with black blotches and 
appear half decayed but in reality are delicious ; 
and each and every variety with some particular 
points of superiority and each with a local Cuban 
name. Side by side with the bananas are their 
near relatives the plantains ; huge, green or yellow 
fruits that are delicious when boiled, roasted or 
fried and which form a staple article of diet in 
all tropical lands. Pineapples are legion and of 
many kinds ; oranges, limes and grape fruits are 
on every side ; while innumerable odd-shaped, 
strangely-coloured fruits invite the visitor to taste 
and sample these unusual products of the Tropics. 
Anonas, or custard apples, with their rough green 
and brown skins, containing a cool creamy pulp 
that savours of vanilla ice cream; zapotes with 
their leathery rind and orange, spicy meat; nis- 
peros or sapodillas with their brownish sugary 
pulp ; rose apples ; pawpaws, sour sops, guavas, 
yackees, prickly ears, melons and last, but more 
numerous than all, mangoes of a hundred shapes 
and varieties and varying in flavour from a kero- 
sene-soaked sponge to a combination of straw- 



LA HABANA 45 

berries and pears. Even more numerous in forms 
and varieties are the vegetables. Carrots, cab- 
bages, potatoes, lettuce, Lima and string beans, 
peas, corn, beets, radishes, cauliflowers, aspara- 
gus, and egg plants are piled high beside yams, 
sweet potatoes, yucca, taro, palm-cabbage, cho- 
yotes, and other native Cuban vegetables, for to 
these markets come the farmers from far and near 
and in Cuba's rich soil and various climates almost 
every known vegetable and fruit may be grown 
to perfection. 

The fruit and vegetable stalls are but a small 
portion of the market and the fish and poultry sec- 
tions are fully as interesting — if one can stand 
the odour. Early in the morning is the best time 
to visit the markets and at this time the fish stalls 
will be found filled with denizens of the sea that 
will seem wonderful indeed to the Northern vis- 
itor. Land crabs tied in bunches, great saltwater 
crabs with scarlet shells, huge clawless lobsters 
with their peacock tints, crawfish from the rivers, 
shrimp from the bays, eels, oysters, clams and 
snails are all in evidence, with here and there a 
slimy repulsive cuttlefish or octopus — a sea deni- 



46 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

zen that is excellent eating despite his appearance 
and which is greatly relished by the Cubans and 
Spaniards. But more noticeable than all else are 
the wonderfully coloured fish; brilliant, scarlet 
snappers ; crimson squirrel fish ; blue, green, 
golden and orange parrot fish ; silver and turquoise 
angel fish; rainbow flounders; great snake-like 
morays ; iridescent pompanos and bonitos ; scin- 
tillating, metallic-scaled dolphins; silvery tarpon; 
clean-cut, savage-looking swordfish and a thousand 
and one varieties of lesser fishes may be seen, for 
the Cuban waters swarm with marine life and no 
one knows better than the Cubans how to cook 
fish to perfection. 

Fully as interesting is the poultry section of the 
market, for the Cuban has ways of his own in 
selling poultry and his ways are odd indeed from 
our point of view. Here in the poultry stalls one 
may buy eggs, pigeons, turkeys, quail, plover, 
squabs, guinea fowl, ducks and geese. If you 
wish a whole fowl you may purchase it alive or 
dead, plucked or unplucked, and if your family is 
small or only a small quantity of fowl is desired 
you are not compelled to purchase more than you 



LA HABANA 47 

need or to go without. The Cuban poultryman 
sells fowl in sections as readily as whole and in 
the markets one may buy a neck, a breast, a wing, 
a pair of legs, a head or even the giblets sepa- 
rately. It is a strange sight to see a stall with 
every conceivable portion of a fowl's anatomy dis- 
played separately and one is filled with admiration 
at the skill displayed by the marketmen in dissect- 
ing and dismembering the birds in such a manner 
as to obtain such a multitude of cuts, steaks and 
joints from a single carcass. 

It is but a few steps from the Colon market 
to the beautiful Los Angeles church with its 
roof prickly with miniature steeples and towers 
and its yellow painted walls. The church 
itself is of little interest for it is not very 
ancient and has been remodelled and rebuilt; 
but the streets in its vicinity are well worth vis- 
iting. These are among the oldest and quaintest 
streets of the city and one — the Loma del Angel 
— is the narrowest thoroughfare in Havana, being 
scarce ten feet in width. 

A short distance from this church and towards 
the Malecon is the immense cigar factory of 



48 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Henry Clay and Bock and Company and as visit- 
ors are welcome, a tour through this up-to-date 
cigar factory should not be omitted. In passing 
from the church to the factory one's attention will 
be drawn to a fragment of ancient stone work bear- 
ing a strange lantern-like sentry box. This is all 
that remains of the old Spanish wall which orig- 
inally completely surrounded the town, for Havana 
was once a walled city, but its growth was so rapid 
that it soon spread beyond the walls and for many 
years they have been demolished and destroyed 
save here and there where some fragment was 
utilised to form the wall of a house or building or 
was spared as a monument for its historical in- 
terest. 

From this spot it is but a short stroll back to the 
hotels and Central Park or to the cool seaside 
benches and restaurants of the Malqeon. 

Another pleasant walk which will prove full of 
interest is down O'Reilly or Obispo Streets to the 
Plaza de Armas and the palace. Obispo Street 
is always interesting and with its grateful shade, 
cast by the canvas canopies, is cooler and pleas- 
anter than most of Havana's streets. Turning 



LA HABANA 49 

down the broad avenue between the Bazaar de 
Paris, or Gomez Block, and Albisu theatre, one 
comes to a little square or plaza containing a mar- 
ble statue of Albear, the engineer who built the 
reservoir and constructed the pipe line through 
which Havana's water supply is led from distant 
Vento Springs. This is known as Albear Square 
and at the left is Calle O'Reilly and at the right 
Calle Obispo. Proceeding down Obispo Street 
beneath the awnings we pass the Cuba Trust Com- 
pany's white marble building and a block or two 
farther on reach the Banco Nacional de Cuba, a 
magnificent six-story white marble building. The 
bank proper occupies the first floor, which is in 
reality a miniature park or plaza with an open 
central patio. Elevators carry the visitor to the 
upper floors, the fifth of which contains the of- 
fices of the United States Consul General, while 
from the roof one may obtain a splendid pano- 
ramic view of the city. 

A short distance beyond the bank one comes 
upon the Plaza de Armas, — a large open square 
filled with palms and shrubs and in the centre of 
which is a handsome statue of Ferdinand VII of 



50 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Spain. This plaza was really the nucleus of Ha- 
vana and dates from 1519. It is close to the orig- 
inal landing place of the founders of the city, a 
spot marked by the little " Templete " on the har- 
bour side of the square and beside which stands a 
silk cotton tree, a sprout from the original ceiba 
beneath which mass was said on landing. Grouped 
around the Plaza de Armas are the various ad- 
ministrative buildings, such as the President's Pal- 
ace at the west, the Senate Building to the north, 
the Hall of Representatives at the south and the 
Post Office at the northeast. All of these build- 
ings are of interest and are open to visitors, the 
President's Palace being particularly well worth 
seeing as it contains a beautiful patio filled with 
flowers and palms, a splendid statue of Columbus, 
broad marble stairways and the old Spanish 
Throne Room. On the northern side of the square 
6tands the ancient fort or La Fuerza, the oldest 
structure in Havana and of great historical in- 
terest. La Fuerza was built in 1538 under the 
personal direction of Ferdinand de Soto who 
sailed for Florida the following year. Here in 
the fort he installed his wife, the Dona Isabel, as 



LA HABANA 51 

" adelantado " and here she waited patiently for 
his return until after four long years of vigil she 
realised that hope was useless and died of grief 
and a broken heart. The grim old fort has seen 
many a hard fought battle and has bravely with- 
stood assaults of pirates, buccaneers and foreign 
invaders only falling to the guns of Morro trained 
upon it by the British forces. Within its grey 
walls have reposed countless millions of gold and 
jewels, for it was the great treasure vault of the 
Indies and galleons and plate ships, homeward 
bound from Peru and Mexico stored here their 
treasure that it might be safe from sea-rovers and 
marauders. For many years the quaint old fort 
fell into a state of decay and neglect, but at the 
American invasion it was rescued from its igno- 
minious surroundings, cleared of filth and rubbish, 
partially restored and now stands forth with 
bridge and moat, high walls and ancient sentry 
boxes, a splendid and enduring monument of 
Cuba's most interesting past. 

From the Plaza de Armas one may turn to the 
left and pass up O'Reilly Street; but it is better 
to pass behind the rear of the Palace, see the pic- 



52 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

turesque vista of O'Reilly with the age-grey belfry 
of San Domingo church towering above the house- 
tops and continue to Emperado Street and past 
the Cathedral. 

This ancient church was commenced in 1656, but 
was not completed until 1724. It is Latin-Gothic 
in architecture, built of native limestone and has 
assumed a dull, hoary-grey tint which makes it 
appear very ancient. The exterior of the Cathe- 
dral is quite imposing and within there are several 
fine paintings, among them a supposed Murillo, 
depicting the Pope and his Cardinals celebrating 
mass on the eve of the departure of Columbus. 
The altar is very beautiful and built of Italian 
marble and surrounded by marble mosaic floors 
while the embroidered and jewelled vestments are 
marvellous and may be seen by application to the 
Sacristano. The Cathedral is, however, most 
widely celebrated as having been at one time the 
resting-place of the bones of Columbus — which 
it never contained, if researches and historical 
facts may be believed. Columbus was buried in 
Valladolid, Spain, in 1508, and the body was later 
transferred to Seville and thence to San Domingo 



LA HABANA 53 

where it was deposited in the great cathedral in 
San Domingo City. When the French, in 1795, 
took possession of San Domingo the retiring Span- 
iards removed certain bones believed to be those 
of the discoverer and carried them to Havana. 
Here they were received with great pomp and 
ceremony and were reinterred in a niche in the 
Cathedral in the wall of the chancel. Later they 
were removed to a magnificent tomb beneath the 
dome and here the bones remained until the evacua- 
tion of Cuba by the Spaniards when the remains 
were once more transferred to the Cathedral of 
Seville, Spain. All this is a matter of undisputed 
history but when a second casket of bones, bear- 
ing inscriptions proving it to be the coffin of Co- 
lumbus, was discovered in the San Domingo Cathe- 
dral, doubt arose as to the identity of the Havana 
bones. The Havanese and the Spaniards used 
every argument to prove their relics the genuine 
ones, but the preponderance of evidence appears 
to be in favour of the bones still in Santo Do- 
mingo ; the remains transferred to Cuba and later 
to Seville being probably those of Diego Columbus, 
the son of the great admiral. 



54 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

However this may be, the Havana Cathedral is 
well worth visiting and in the wall may still be 
seen the niche wherein the alleged body of Co- 
lumbus rested for many years and where formerly 
was a tablet inscribed with the following lines: 

w O Grand Columbus, 

In this urn enshrined 

A thousand centuries thy bones shall guard; 

A thousand ages keep thine image fresh, 

In token of a nation's gratitude." 



CHAPTER V 

HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS 

The visitor in a tropical country should never 
expect to accomplish as much as in the North. 
Although the temperature may not be as high as 
in New York, and there is little humidity, yet the 
climate is invariably enervating, — at least in the 
coast towns, — and one becomes tired and ex- 
hausted much sooner than in temperate climates. 
Many tourists try to live in the Tropics exactly 
as they do in the North. They eat the same kind 
of food, imbibe the same drinks, keep the same 
hours of eating, sleeping and walking, and scoff at 
the native ways of life. This is a great mistake ; the 
people of the Tropics know far better than North- 
erners what to do and what not to do, what to eat 
and drink and what to avoid, and how best to di- 
vide the twenty-four hours between sleeping and 
waking. " When in Rome do as the Romans do " 
is thoroughly applicable to the Tropics, and if 

one desires to be healthy and to accomplish any- 

55 



56 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

thing in tropical lands he must follow the example 
of the natives as to his manner of living. It is 
not necessary to eat all kinds of native food or to 
live in native discomfort to do this; there are 
plenty of wholesome, appetising, native dishes and 
many Northern viands are perfectly suitable for 
the Tropics ; but it is a wise plan to follow the 
best class of natives in selecting food, drinks and 
refreshments. 

An abundance of sleep is most essential in trop- 
ical lands and nearly all tropical people take a 
long siesta or nap in the middle of the day. This 
enables them to keep late hours at night and to be 
*ftp betimes in the morning, — the pleasantest por- 
tions of the whole twenty-four hours, — and in this 
Universal custom lies the secret of the Spanish- 
American's fondness for night life. In Havana, 
Jife and gaiety is at its height from nine in the 
evening until three in the morning and to the cas- 
ual observer the Havanese never seem to sleep and 
the streets about the plaza and Prado are as noisy 
and bright with life at two a.m. as at eight p.m. 

Of course the average tourist is limited for time 
in most cases and there is a great temptation to 



HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS 57 

rush and " do the town " in a few days or hours. 
It is far better to take things easy and see less 
with greater comfort. We laugh at the tendency 
of the Spanish-American to put everything off 
until " manana," but in this habit lies his safe- 
guard of health and after a few years in the Trop- 
ics the American is prone to postpone a large part 
of his business until to-morrow and becomes a 
thorough convert to the manana habit himself, or 
else exhausts his vitality and falls an easy prey 
to disease and drink. 

In Havana, the custom is to rise early, take a 
meagre breakfast or desayuno of coffee, bread and 
fruit with perhaps a couple of boiled eggs or other 
light food. After this repast one may stroll 
about the town or drive hither and thither until 
about eleven o'clock when almuerza or luncheon 
is served. After luncheon a siesta is taken or one 
loafs about the house or hotel until two or three 
o'clock when once more a car ride, walk or shop- 
ping tour may be taken. From five p.m. until 
^nightfall is the busiest hour for business and shop- 
ping and for walks and drives along the water 
front or in the suburbs. About seven comida or 



58 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

dinner is taken and the rest of the evening and 
most of the night is spent in the parks, in the 
theatres or on the Prado with frequent visits to 
the innumerable cafes and restaurants where iced 
soft drinks, ice cream, coffee or other refreshments 
are indulged in freely. 

It is not necessary to exhaust oneself by walking 
in Havana, for the trolley cars, auto-busses, and 
coches are cheap and carry the visitor to nearly 
every point of interest; or carriages or automo- 
biles may be hired by the hour or trip at reason- 
able rates. A large proportion of the Havanese 
speak English, and every hotel, restaurant and 
store has at least one English-speaking employe. 
Many of the cocheros do not speak English, but 
by merely mentioning the name of one's destination 
the coach driver will understand where his passen- 
ger wishes to go. It is an easy matter to lose 
oneself in Havana and in order to avoid any pos- 
sibility of going astray the visitor should always 
carry the address of his hotel or boarding house 
on a card which may be shown to a coach driver 
or policeman in case of necessity. 

There is no possibility of the carriage drivers 



HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS 59 

overcharging, for the rates are regulated by law 
and every driver carries a copy of the tariff law. 
In the case of long drives, or when the coach is 
hired by the hour, definite arrangements as to 
charges should be made in advance for the cocheros 
always hope to receive a little more than the law 
allows and on the other hand are frequently willing 
to reduce the legal rate considerably in order to 
obtain a fare. 

The visitor who speaks Spanish has a decided 
advantage and even a slight knowledge of the lan- 
guage is very useful. Havana lives for a good 
portion of the time on the tourists and Havana 
merchants, guides, hotel keepers, cocheros and 
even the street vendors consider American tourists 
fair prey and charge double or treble the prices 
they would dare charge Cubans. 

If one does not speak Spanish and is unfamiliar 
with the customs of the country it is a wise plan 
to have some Cuban friend, or a hotel interpreter, 
do the purchasing and hiring and a few dollars 
expended in tips to a competent interpreter will 
usually save many dollars in over-charges. Ha- 
vana is literally alive with guides and local tour- 



60 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

bureau solicitors and the latter are often exceed- 
ingly annoying and even insulting when their serv- 
ices are declined. At times these runners try to 
make the stranger believe that it is impossible to 
obtain entrance to the various public buildings and 
ruins without their assistance, but this is false, for 
every building or place of interest that can be seen 
in company with a tour-bureau agent may be seen 
just as readily by any stranger alone. 

Before the Great War Cuba possessed what 
might be called a "mongrel" system of coinage. 
Spanish, French and American currency formed 
the medium of exchange. This was costly and in- 
adequate, and in the fall of 1914, when an unprec- 
edented rise in the price of Spanish and French 
coins occurred, the Cuban Legislature found it 
necessary to authorize a national currency which 
would emancipate the country from a European 
system and enable the Republic to buy gold and 
silver in the open market and coin these metals 
in the mints of the United States. The new mone- 
tary law was approved by President Menocal on 
October 21, 1914. It demonetised the Spanish gold 
dollar, a Spanish or French coin of 21.13 grams 



HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS 61 

of pure gold, used solely in Cuba as a legal stand- 
ard of computation for a century past, and in 
the course of two years these coins were re- 
patriated by the Government without affecting the 
exchanges. 

The law created a national gold standard, at a 
mint parity with the American dollar, which was 
also made a legal tender. Hence American paper 
and metallic money now circulates to the exclusion 
of other foreign moneys, simplifying exchange 
operations and adding another bond to the close 
commercial and social relations existing between 
the United States and Cuba. Cuban gold, silver 
and nickel pieces are coined, of specified denomina- 
tions. Silver coins are absolute tender for obliga- 
tions not in excess of ten dollars, and to the extent 
of eight per cent of payments over that amount. 

In former years the Cubans invariably quoted 
prices far in advance of what they actually ex- 
pected to receive and an article priced at $1.00 
could usually be purchased for fifty cents or less. 
Since the Americanisation of Cuba and the influx 
of tourists the prices quoted are now usually ad- 
hered to and save in the markets, small shops and 



62 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

outlying towns it is a waste of time to try and 
" beat down " the prices asked. 

In Havana the custom of " tipping " is as preva- 
lent as in New York or elsewhere and tips are 
usually calculated at a basis of ten per cent, of 
the bill in restaurants, hotels, etc. ; but more than 
a peseta should never be given, the ordinary tip 
being a real or Spanish dime. Beggars are sel- 
dom seen and should not be encouraged, for only 
professional beggars are at large, the deserving 
poor being amply provided for and well taken 
care of in all the large Cuban towns. 

In attending theatres one may purchase tickets 
for one or more acts or for the entire performance 
but the moving pictures have now largely super- 
seded the legitimate theatre in Havana as popular 
places of amusement while the Basque game of 
pelota or Jen Alai, cockfights, baseball, golf, boat- 
ing and autoing are very popular. 

The Havana lottery is a most important insti- 
tution and one sees the tickets on sale in every 
shop and store and by every street vendor. This 
lottery is perfectly fair and square and as the 
tickets cost but twenty-five cents each and the 



HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS 63 

drawings are frequent it is doubtful if they are 
really any serious drain on the people's money. 
Oddly enough, visiting Americans are among the 
largest and most frequent purchasers of the lot- 
tery tickets, although they hold up their hands 
in horror at such open " gambling " and pretend 
to disapprove most seriously of anything per- 
taining to lotteries or games of chance. Ameri- 
cans not infrequently win large sums at the lot- 
tery and it is doubtful if they ever consider their 
winnings as " tainted money " or refuse to ac- 
cept it. 

As to the advisability of a state lottery each 
must form his or her own opinion, but oddly 
enough where the lottery is an open public insti- 
tution drunkenness and crimes arising from in- 
toxication are rare. This may not have any 
direct connection with the lottery, for the Span- 
ish-American considers it a degradation to be seen 
under the influence of liquor in public, but in the 
opinion of the writer it is far better for the peo- 
ple to spend money on lottery tickets than on 
drink, card games, dice or other forms of dissi- 
pation and gambling. Where the lottery holds 



64 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

sway there is little money left for dissipation after 
the lottery tickets are bought. Every country 
has its weaknesses and if the Cubans prefer lot- 
teries to other games of chance there is no reason 
why we should criticise or object. It may con- 
sume a good portion of the workingman's savings, 
but it certainly does not induce rowdyism, vice 
or crime. 

If the visitor is fond of bathing he may enjoy a 
splendid swim by travelling to Marianao beach, 
a distance of some ten miles from Havana and 
reached either by trolley or electric trains which 
leave the Concha Station hourly. The trip costs 
but ten cents and the country traversed is quite 
interesting and typical of rural Cuba, with broad 
level pastures, pineapple fields and great numbers 
of magnificent royal palms. Marianao beach is 
some distance from Marianao itself but the town 
is worth visiting as it is old fashioned, picturesque 
and has the reputation of being the cleanest town 
on the Island. 

Between the beach and the town is the Country 
Club, a beautiful property with a magnificent golf 
course, tennis courts, croquet lawns and handsome 



HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS 65 

shrubbery, trees and flower gardens. The club 
house is of the old mission type of architecture 
and is a most attractive and pleasant place to 
visit if one is fortunate enough to secure an intro- 
duction through friends who are members. 

In Havana itself a good insight into Cuban cus- 
toms and life may be gained by strolling through 
the various, much-frequented thoroughfares or 
the numerous cafes or restaurants which are on 
nearly every corner and are wide open to the 
street. The Cubans are great patronizers of 
cafes and at the small marble-topped tables they 
congregate in groups; sip native drinks or beer, 
smoke cigars and cigarettes and chat and gossip 
by the hour. All of these open cafes or restau- 
rants are perfectly safe and respectable and ladies 
visit them as freely as men. Cubans as a race 
are very quiet, orderly and well behaved and treat 
women with respect and never stare rudely at a 
stranger or make remarks. Although any sort 
of beverage, either alcoholic or not, may be pur- 
chased in the cafes, yet the favourite drinks are 
the delicious native refrescos. These are merely 
iced fruit syrups made from fresh native fruits, 



66 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

but they are cooling, pleasant and perfectly safe 
and healthy. In variety they are almost endless, 
for any and every fruit of the Island, as well as 
many of our Northern fruits, are used for making 
refrescos, but among them all the favourites are 
naranjada or orangeade; Umonada or limeade; 
pffia colado or strained pineapple; piria sin colar, 
or unstrained pineapple; anona, or custard ap- 
ple; grendda, or pomegranate; and ensalada, 
which is a combination of various fruits. Coffee 
and chocolate are also served in these cafes, the 
former being poured hot from a pot carried by 
the waiter with salted boiled milk added from a 
second pot. The chocolate is delicious but is 
very thick and rich and is seldom relished by 
Northerners at first. Ice cream or mantecado is 
also served as well as helados or water-ices, and 
many of these are as rich, pleasant and well made 
as our Northern products. 

These little cafes have wonderful resources and 
one may order anything from a refresco to a 
course dinner and have it served promptly and 
well; — in fact the very best way to live in Ha- 
vana is to room at some good hotel, and take one's 



HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS 67 

meals at any restaurant or cafe that may be con- 
venient. Fortunately there is no danger in drink- 
ing water freely in Havana, for the water supply 
is obtained from Vento Springs nearly ten miles 
away, through a covered aqueduct, and is among 
the purest of waters known. In former times the 
Havana water was almost undrinkable as it was 
led to the city through an open ditch and reeked 
with filth and decomposing vegetation. 

In nearly every Spanish-American country there 
are many interesting native customs, habits and 
costumes, but in Havana the majority of typical 
native ways have been lost or given up since the 
Spanish evacuation. The graceful mantillas for- 
merly worn by all classes of women are now but 
seldom seen save on the heads or shoulders of the 
old ladies or the poorer classes and the latest 
Parisian fashions and fabrics are much in evi- 
dence, — in fact, the Cuban women dress far bet- 
ter and in later fashions than their New York 
sisters, while the men wear light flannels, linens, 
alpacas and silks which are most appropriate for 
the climate. In home life the Cubans are rather 
retiring and one seldom sees Cuban ladies on the 



68 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

street, save in the late afternoon or evening or in 
automobiles. The custom of men embracing, pat- 
ting one another on the back and kissing the cheek 
when meeting or parting is still in vogue and seems 
very funny to the less demonstrative Northerner, 
but the Cubans take it very seriously and no doubt 
think it is just as odd for us to merely grasp 
hands and mutter a few commonplace words when 
parting from or meeting old friends or relatives. 
There are, however, many minor local customs 
which one will constantly see, such as the milk 
vendor riding on horseback with his cans slung on 
either side of the saddle; the odd house-shaped 
stores on wheels from which bread, cakes, drinks 
and sweetmeats are sold; the fruit pedlars with 
their wagons embowered in palm leaves ; the fowl- 
sellers with their carts piled high with coops of 
live chickens ; the queer, diminutive watering carts 
with a single barrel on wheels drawn by a sleepy 
donkey, and the loads of Guinea-grass travelling 
along the streets without apparent reason but 
which in reality hide the tiny burro upon which 
the bundles of grass are piled high. 



HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS 69 

All of these things may, however, be far oftener 
seen in the country and smaller towns than in 
Havana, for the capital is very modern and is 
yearly becoming more thoroughly up to date and 
pushing the old and obsolete to one side. 

The crude barrel watering-cart is being sup- 
planted by huge two horse sprinklers, the dray 
and donkey is giving place to Milburn wagons 
and auto-trucks, and the ancient hand fire-en- 
gines have been abandoned in favour of the latest 
steam and chemical machines, auto fire-patrols, 
aerial trucks, trained horses and up-to-the-minute 
electrical equipment. 

In every phase of life and business it is the same ; 
Havana is no longer an old-fashioned, conserva- 
tive town held down by Spanish oppression and 
misrule, but a pushing progressive city kept 
abreast of the times and forging rapidly to the 
front through the energy and ability of the 
Cubans under the rule of their own countrymen. 

Nowhere in Havana can a better idea of prog- 
ress and improvement be seen than in the great 
Central Station, — the terminus of the United 



70 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Railways of Havana, the Cuba Central Railway 
and the Havana Central Railway. This enor- 
mous building, with its broad concrete approach, 
twin towers, attractive architecture and splen- 
didly equipped interior, would be a credit to any 
city in the world. Within are large, beautifully 
finished waiting-rooms, cafes, restaurants, barber 
shops, boot-blacking stands, news stands and 
every modern convenience, with the dozen or more 
terminal tracks completely covered by iron and 
glass roofs. On the tracks stand the waiting 
trains, — standard gauge, luxurious coaches, Pull- 
mans, sleepers, buffet cars and great, snorting, 
powerful Mogul locomotives, ready to whirl the 
waiting, pushing throngs to distant Santiago or 
other inland towns over a roadbed that is a mar- 
vel of engineering and through hundreds of miles 
of enchanting scenery. 

From this scene of busy, hurrying activity one 
turns to a striking contrast near at hand. At one 
end of the platform, within a polished brass rail- 
ing, stands a relic of Havana's railways of the 
past. An old-fashioned, diminutive locomotive, — • 
the first to operate on Cuban railways and one 



HAVANA LIFE AND CUSTOMS 71 

of the oldest in America, for the United Railways 
of Havana were opened in 1837, years before 
many of our American cities had been weaned from 
post-chaise and wayside tavern. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA 

Some of the pleasantest and most interesting 
spots about Havana are in the suburbs and neigh- 
bouring small towns. These are all easily reached 
by coach, railway, trolley, electric train or ferry, 
and each and every one affords a new and attrac- 
tive phase of Cuban life, customs, scenery and 
products. 

Of course every visitor to Cuba is interested in 
the Morro — the grim ancient fortress that 
guards the entrance to the harbour and has taken 
such a prominent part in Cuba's history and past. 

Almost as famous and of equal interest to the 
tourist is the Cabanas fortress that stretches along 
the bare hilltop behind the Morro. Both of these 
ancient fortifications are within easy reach of Ha- 
vana's centre; both are open to the public and 
every visitor to the Cuban capital should make it 
a point to cross the bay, climb the heights and 
wander over and through Cabanas and El Morro. 

n 



THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA 73 

From CeCballera Wharf bumboats or launches 
will carry the visitor across the harbour to 
Cabanas or Morro for ten cents (Spanish plata), 
the return trip costing the same. 

From the landing place a long, winding, covered 
way leads up the slope to the fortress and at the 
summit a pass to visit Morro should be procured. 

Although Cabanas was built for a fortress it has 
never been attacked and has never been actually 
used for any purpose other than a prison, and 
during the numerous Cuban revolts against Spain 
countless patriots were imprisoned, tortured and 
executed within the forbidding confines of the vast 
walls. 

The visitor will find the climb up the steep en- 
trance way very hot and fatiguing and hence it is 
advisable to make the trip either early in the 
morning or on a cool cloudy day. 

To the right of the entrance is the famous 
" Laurel Ditch " or " Laurel Moat," marked by a 
beautiful bronze tablet, where the unfortunate 
Cubans and others who assisted them were exe- 
cuted without pretence of trial. The condemned 
prisoners were compelled to kneel facing the wall 



74 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

and were riddled by the rifle fire of a squad of 
Spanish soldiers. Even to-day one may trace the 
line of bullet marks along the wall for nearly one 
hundred feet and this grim memento of the cruelty 
and oppression of the Spanish is known by the 
significant name of " The Dead-line." 

Within the walls of Cabanas one realises the 
vastness of the fortification for it is fully a mile 
in length and nearly 1,000 feet in width and the 
visitor is not surprised to learn that its cost was 
over $14,000,000.00 and that eleven years were 
consumed in building it ; a fact made plain by an 
inscription above the landward gateway which 
states that the work was commenced in 1763 and 
completed in 1774. 

So great was the cost and so stupendous the 
labour that it is said that King Charles III — 
when told of the expense incurred — went to the 
window of his palace and peered intently west- 
ward, remarking that in his opinion the walls of 
such an enormous and expensive fortress should 
be visible from Spain. 

Within the fort are innumerable dungeons, cells 
and secret passages where prisoners were kept 



THE SUBURBS OF. HAVANA 75 

incommunicado until executed, or condemned to 
the penal colonies or galleys of Africa, their fate 
being seldom known to families or friends. 

Upon the ramparts are many ancient cannon, 
while a monument stands as a memorial to the men 
who captured the Lopez expedition in 1851. 
From these lofty walls a magnificent view of the 
city and harbour is obtained with the green, palm- 
covered country stretching beyond, and star- 
shaped Atares castle on the heights behind the 
town, — a lasting monument to the murdered 
Crittenden and his fifty companions who were shot 
down within its walls. 

From Cabanas a short walk northward leads to 
Morro, which may be entered upon presentation 
of the permit obtained at the office of Cabanas. 

The Morro is far older than Cabanas, having 
been completed in 1597, and is a replica of the an- 
cient Moorish fortress at Lisbon, but through its 
many years' existence its original design has been 
considerably altered and to-day it does not appear 
as ancient or as mediaeval as the Morro at San- 
tiago or the Morro at San Juan, Porto Rico. 

In form it is irregular, with walls from one hun- 



76 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

dred to one hundred and twenty feet above the sea 
and rising sheer from the bare, weather-worn rock 
which has been carved into weird forms and huge 
caverns by the ceaseless beating waves. The sea- 
ward side is inaccessible and the landward side is 
protected by great moats seventy feet in depth 
and thirty to forty feet in width hewn from solid 
rock and spanned by a drawbridge leading to the 
sally-port. 

Around the large, open, central space, or pa- 
rade, are numerous gloomy casemates and from 
here a sloping ramp leads towards the sea and the 
dungeons. Some of these prison cells are directly 
over the water and in one spot a steep chute, or 
slide, leads through the walls. From here it is 
said the bodies of prisoners, both living and dead, 
were slid into the sea to become the food of in- 
numerable waiting sharks in the nido de tiburones 
(sharks' nest) below. 

Although the Morro was built to protect Ha- 
vana from pirates, freebooters and other enemies, 
yet it has never been seriously attacked but once — 
when the British laid siege in 1762. At that time 
it proved more of a menace than a protection, for 



THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA 77 

it was mined and captured by the English who 
then trained the Morro's guns upon the city it 
was designed to guard, thus compelling the sur- 
render of Punta fortress and the town. 

A tablet is set in the eastern wall of the fortress 
in memory of Captain Velasco who gallantly re- 
sisted the British invaders and lost his life in the 
defence. Close to the water's edge is a battery of 
large guns known as the " Twelve Apostles " and 
on the seaward platform of the fort is a towering 
light-house built in 1844 with its attendant sig- 
nal station, semaphore, flags and wireless tower. 

From Morro the visitor may return to Caballera 
wharf or to the Punta at the foot of the Prado. 

Another interesting and pleasant suburban trip 
is to Marianao and its Playa or beach. The lit- 
tle town is on a hill some ten miles from Havana 
and has the reputation of being the cleanest town 
in Cuba, although it is difficult to see how any 
town could be much cleaner than Havana itself 
under its present conditions. Marianao is reached 
by electric trains from the Central station, the 
trains leaving hourly for the beach, or by electrics 
from the Concha station every 15 minutes or by 



78 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

the " Vedado-Muelle de Luz " or "Vedado-San 
Juan de Dios " trolleys, changing at the Vedado 
terminal for the Marianao or Playa cars. 

Marianao itself contains many handsome villas 
or summer homes of wealthy Havanese, while the 
beach is a favourite bathing place, and the home 
of the Havana Yacht Club and near by is the 
Country Club with its splendid golf-course, cro- 
quet-lawns, club-house and gardens. 

Near Marianao is Camp Columbia — the camp 
of the United States troops in former days and 
the barracks of the Cuban army to-day — while 
the country passed over on the trip to and from 
the village is very interesting and the route from 
the Central station affords the visitor a fairly 
good idea of the rural districts of western Cuba. 
After leaving the Central station the train passes 
through the extensive yards of the railway com- 
panies and here one obtains some conception of 
the size and commerce of Havana. A network of 
tracks covers hundreds of acres ; scores of loco- 
motives haul long freight trains back and forth; 
the great freight station, with its innumerable 
waiting drays, auto-trucks and express wagons, 



THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA 79 

attracts attention. Near at hand one passes 
mile after mile of docks packed close with ship- 
ping; huge coal yards, great lumber piles, im- 
mense dredges and steam shovels and finally the 
stupendous electrical power plant with its great 
chimneys towering hundreds of feet into the clear 
blue sky. 

Soon the outlying houses, the poorer sections 
and the vacant lots of the outskirts of Havana are 
passed and the train runs through a flat, level 
country diversified with clumps and rows of trees, 
silvery brooks and streams and groups of cattle 
and horses, while native, thatched-roof huts, little 
gaily-tinted villas and well-kept farms flash by 
the car windows. Many little villages are passed, 
with their tiny wayside stations, among them 
Puentes Grandes — a busy manufacturing ham- 
let with its two great breweries — and at last the 
little town of Hoyo Colorado, where the branch 
line to the beach joins the main railway line. 

From Marianao to Hoyo Colorado the track lies 
through a rich tobacco and pineapple district, 
which becomes even more interesting and luxuriant 
further westward to Guana jay. 



80 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

The trip to Guana jay is well worth taking if the 
visitor has little time at his disposal or does not 
wish to incur the excessive expenses of a longer 
trip. The road passes through Arroyo Arenas, 
Punta Brava, Hoyo Colorado and Caimito, all 
centres of the pineapple industry, and at any sta- 
tion the traveller may remain over until the next 
car — the trains passing every hour — and this 
hour may be profitably spent in visiting the fruit- 
packing plants, or the large sugar mills or other 
local industrial centres* 

From Hoyo Colorado to Guana jay the country 
is exceedingly beautiful, its rolling green surface 
broken by innumerable clumps of magnificent 
royal palms which increase in numbers until on 
every hand one sees vast groves, long avenues and 
actual forests of these wonderful trees. Guana- 
jay itself is of little interest, save that it is a 
typical rural Cuban town with low, one- or two- 
story buildings with picturesque red-tiled roofs; 
an odd little plaza and trains of pack horses and 
mules laden with the produce of the surrounding 
country. An hour is quite enough time to spend 
in the town for the accommodations are of the 



THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA 81 

most primitive sort and the so-called " hotels " 
are dirty, unpleasant and lacking in all luxuries 
and many necessities. The patios are usually oc- 
cupied by oxen, mules or horses and the rooms and 
restaurants smell more like stables than human 
habitations. 

There are numerous coches and livery automo- 
biles in Guanajay and the other small towns and 
during the hour between trains a short drive may 
be taken through the surrounding country with 
its pineapple, tobacco, banana and sugar estates. 

Still another interesting suburban trip is to 
Regla and Guanabacoa, across the bay from Ha- 
vana. From Luz wharf the ferry carries one to 
Regla, a little village once famous as a resort of 
smugglers and pirates, but now of little interest. 
From Regla the electric train may be taken to 
Guanabacoa, at one time a very aristocratic sum- 
mer resort, and famous for its medicinal mineral 
springs. Guanabacoa has many old churches 
containing greatly adored shrines; the church of 
Potosi having an image to which many miracles 
are attributed and which is annually visited by 
thousands of devout pilgrims from many portions 



82 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

of the Island. Moreover, Guanabacoa is famous 
for the liquid bitumen or pitch found in the hills 
behind the town and which was used by Ocampo in 
1508 in pitching his ships which were careened 
in Havana harbour and from which fact the little 
bay received the name of " Puerto de Carenas." 
Upon entering Guanabacoa it is advisable to re- 
main in the car until the central plaza is reached 
as from here short strolls may be taken about the 
town. About the plaza are numerous caf6s and 
restaurants and within a few blocks are the most 
interesting churches and other sights. Near the 
plaza is the College of the Pious Schools of 
Guanabacoa, an enormous, walled edifice built like 
a fortress and with a statue in a lofty niche in 
one corner before which burns continuously — 
not an oil lamp or a candle, but a modern electric 
light! This school is one of the most famous in 
Cuba and the visitor will usually be admitted upon 
request. In style the school is very similar to 
the old California missions, but is in splendid re- 
pair and the stranger seems transported to days 
long past as he wanders through the pillared 
colonnades and about the flower-filled patios with 




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THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA 83 

the noise and bustle of the outside world com- 
pletely shut off by the massive -walls. 

From Guanabacoa the tourist may return direct 
to Havana or better still may continue by bus to 
Cojimar, a seaside resort on the northern shore, 
with a splendid bathing beach beside which stands 
a quaint old fort known as the "Little Morro." 
Several days may be spent in Cojimar if desired, 
for the village has a good hotel known as the 
Campoamor. 

From Cojimar the bus may be taken to Guana- 
bacoa, but a better plan is to return by auto-bus 
to Casa Blanca, a little fishing village nestling on 
the hillside under Cabanas, and from this quaint, 
unspoiled town return by ferry to Luz wharf. 

Having taken these near-by trips, the visitor 
will be anxious to see more of rural Cuba and to 
do this he may take any one of the various railway 
lines or the coastal steamships and visit the prin- 
cipal towns of the interior or either Coast, or he 
may travel by automobile for a hundred miles or 
more in various directions. Cuba is not yet fully 
equipped with good highroads but where automo- 
bile roads have been made they have been made 



84 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

well and for many miles the roads are unexcelled 
by any roads in the world. 

From Havana one may travel by auto to Pinar 
del Rio to the west; to Matanzas and Cardenas 
on the north, and as far east as Santa Clara; 
while numerous other roads lead to points nearer 
at hand, among them being the road to San Cris- 
tobal, seventy miles; to Guines, forty miles; and 
to Guanajay and intermediate points. Automo- 
bile hire is high in Cuba, however, and the scenery 
is monotonous as compared to that in Porto Rico 
or even in eastern Cuba and there is little to be 
gained by autoing over the roads when the splen- 
didly-equipped steam railways, the clean, cool and 
cheap electric railways and the coastwise steam- 
ers enable the traveller to visit any and every 
point of interest with comfort and despatch. 

Still other suburban trips of interest are those to 
Madruga, — a typical village of some two thou- 
sand inhabitants among the hills to the southeast 
of Havana and famous for its medicinal springs, 
as well as for its drinking water known through- 
out the Island as Copey. There are numerous 
bathing establishments in the town and excellent 



THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA 85 

hotel accommodations while numerous interesting 
drives may be taken in the vicinity of the town. 

Guines, not far from Madruga, is in a rich 
sugar-producing valley and much of the land in 
the vicinity of the town is devoted to garden truck 
raising by American settlers. Guines is interest- 
ing from the fact that the railway from Havana 
to the town was commenced in 1834 and trains 
were in actual operation over the road in 1837, 
thus making this line one of the pioneer railways 
of the world. The first locomotive to operate on 
the line is still preserved in the Central station at 
Havana and is a most interesting exhibit. 

On the, Guines route is the Providencia sugar 
mill where the tourist may see the entire process 
of grinding cane and making sugar in a modern 
mill and thousands of visitors annually make a 
trip to this mill to which special trains and ex- 
cursions have been arranged by the railway com- 
pany. 

Another pleasant trip may be made to Cotorro 
on the Guines line. Cotorro is about ten miles 
from Havana and is the station for the quaint 
town of Santa Maria del Rosario with which it is 



86 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

connected by a bus line over a splendid highway. 
Santa Maria is famous for its sulphur springs and 
as eleven trains a day run from Havana to Cotorro 
and return it is very easy for the traveller to 
spend a few hours of the morning or afternoon in 
these delightfully situated rural towns. 

In addition to these regular routes it is possible 
for the tourist to arrange an almost endless 
variety of short suburban excursions by travelling 
to one of the outlying towns by one road and re- 
turning by another or by making the outward 
trip by auto and return by railway or vice versa. 

Space will not permit of a detailed description 
of the innumerable trips that may be made in this 
way but the bureau of information at the Central 
Station, the management of the various hotels or 
the agents of the automobile companies will gladly 
furnish suggestions, rates and itineraries to those 
interested. 

For the tourist who does not understand or 
speak Spanish or who does not wish to undertake 
trips or excursions on his own responsibility there 
are numerous special tours and sight-seeing excur- 
sions which leave Havana at specified hours ifl 



THE SUBURBS OF HAVANA 87 

company with English speaking, competent 
guides. Some of the more important places which 
may be visited with couriers are Morro and 
Cabanas, Providencia Sugar Hill, Vento Springs, 
Matanzas, Goianajay, Guanabacoa, Artemesia, 
Paso Real, Herradura and Pinar del Rio. 



CHAPTER VII 

PLACES OF INTEREST AND HOW TO REACH THEM 

There are many points of interest in Havana 
and its environs and a cochero will drive the vis- 
itor to any desired spot if the name is spoken to 
him or a card shown. A great many people, 
however, prefer to visit the principal places of 
note by trolley car or by walking, and the latter 
method is in every way preferable, if one desires 
to see the streets, the buildings and the people. 

Central Park is the natural and accepted centre 
of Havana's life and thoroughfares, for in this 
neighbourhood are all the best hotels and restau- 
rants, the clubs and theatres, the largest stores 
and shops, the favourite promenades and, more- 
over, all trolley cars — with one or two excep- 
tions — pass through this central square at some 
period of their route. Many of Havana's streets 
and smaller parks appear much alike to a stran- 
ger, but Central Park, the Prado and Albear 

88 



PLACES OF INTEREST 89 

Square are always easily recognised and the trav- 
eller who becomes confused or goes astray may 
readily find his way to the well-known and familiar 
park by stepping onto any trolley car that may 
pass — with the exception of those bearing blue 
signs and the words " Universidad " ; green and 
white signs labelled " Vedado-Cerro," or red and 
white signs labelled " Vedado-Jesus del Monte," 
and by merely retaining his seat he will sooner 
or later reach Central Park. Even should the 
wanderer board a car bound directly away from 
the park it is only necessary to retain his seat, 
while the car waits a few minutes at the end of its 
run, pay a second nickel when the car again sets 
forth and thus resume his journey to his destina- 
tion. 

Alameda. Formerly the favourite parade 
ground of Havana but now interesting for the 
tangle of shipping and forest of masts which may 
be seen here. Reached by the Aduana cars or by 
a walk through Officios Street. 

Albear Square. A small square or plaza at the 
junction of Obispo, O'Reilly and San Rafael 
Streets, one block from Central Park. It con- 



90 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

tains a splendid statue of Seiior Albear, the engi- 
neer who planned and built Havana's present wa- 
ter supply system. 

Albisu Theatre. At the corner of Albear Square 
and San Rafael and occupying the entire block 
bounded by San Rafael, Montserrate and Zulueta 
Streets. This is a Spanish theatre and is devoted 
mainly to comedies of Spanish life presented by a 
Spanish stock company. It forms one of the 
large, massive buildings on the south side of Cen- 
tral Park. 

American Consulate. Situated on the fifth floor 
of the National Bank building on Obispo Street. 

American Club. Corner of Virtudes Street and 
the Prado, recognised by an eagle and the letters 
A.C. surmounting it. 

Angeles Church. A beautiful cream-coloured 
Gothic building two blocks from the Prado and 
Central Park on Montserrate Street. The church 
is easily recognised by its numerous, little, prickly 
spires. It was founded in 1679 but has been al- 
tered and repaired several times and after the 
hurricane of 1846 was practically rebuilt. The 
miniature square before its doors and the medley 



PLACES OF INTEREST 91 

of small narrow streets radiating from it are very 
quaint and foreign looking and one of them, — 
known as " Loma del Angel," — is said to be' the 
narrowest street in Havana. 

Atares Castle. A large star-shaped fort on a 
hill near the town. Reached by " Jesus del 
Monte " cars and a short walk. This castle is 
noteworthy as being the only fort which held out 
against the British. Moreover, within this castle 
Crittenden and his fifty Kentucky companions 
were executed by the Spaniards. 

Base Ball Grounds. The Almendares field-— « 
formerly the bull ring — is the favourite and 
largest ball field in Havana. Here the largest 
and most important games are played on Sunday, 
Monday and Thursday afternoons. The grounds 
are situated on Carlos III Avenue in the Vedado 
district and may be reached by " Principe " cars. 

Another ball field is situated on the Paseo de 
Tacon and is known as the Tacon field. 

Belen Church. One of the best preserved and 
most picturesque of Havana's numerous churches. 
It is situated at the corner of Luz and Composteala 
Streets and is over 200 years old. The church 



92 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

is enclosed by a high wall within which are nu- 
merous royal palms and a covered bridge or pas- 
sageway connects the church with the convent 
school wherein is a large natural history collec- 
tion, a rare old library and other interesting 
things; all of which are open to public examina- 
tion. A painting of the " Holy Family " by 
Ribera hangs above the high altar of this church. 

Beneficia Home for orphans and Maternity 
Home on San Lazaro Street fronting the Malecon 
drive. 

Botanical Gardens. Also situated on Carlos 
Tercero Avenue on the line of the " Principe " 
cars. Those extensive gardens are filled with 
palms, shrubs, fruit trees, orchids, cacti, flowers 
and tropical plants and are very interesting. 
There are numerous pools, brooks, grottoes and 
cascades within the grounds. 

Caballera Wharf. At the foot of Obispo and 
O'Reilly Streets and Plaza de Armas. This is 
the landing place for many small vessels and for 
the innumerable bumboats and launches which 
carry visitors to and from ships anchored in the 
harbor. 



PLACES OF INTEREST 93 

Campo Marte. (Field of Mars.) The large, 
embowered square at the upper end of the Prado 
facing Colon Park and containing the statue of 
La India from which it has been given the name 
of India Park. 

Cathedral. On Emperado Street at the corner 
of San Ignacio Street. The foundations were 
laid by the Jesuits in 1656 but the building was 
not completed until 1724. Famous as having 
contained the supposed bones of Columbus. It 
now contains many elaborate, jewelled vestments 
and a silver altar valued at $10,000.00 which may 
be seen by applying to the sacristan. 

Central Station. The new immense station of 
the United and Central railways of Havana. On 
Egido Street which is really a continuation of 
Montserrate Street and easily reached by trolleys 
or a short walk from Central Park. The station 
contains the first locomotive operated in Cuba 
and which was one of the first to operate in Amer- 
ica. 

Christ CfiurcK. On Villegas and Amargura 
Streets. Reached by walking one block west on 
Montserrate Street after passing the Albisu thea- 



94. CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

tre and turning down Lamparilla Street to 
Villegas. Catholic services are held here in Eng- 
lish on Sundays and hence it is much frequented 
by American Roman Catholics visiting Havana. 
The Augustinian College occupies a building in 
the rear of the church. 

City Wall. The old city walls of Havana are 
mostly demolished, the Neptuna Park and other 
parks having been laid out in their place, but 
small fragments remain here and there; notably 
near the Henry Clay cigar factory — 'between 
Zulueta and Montserrate Streets. 

Clerks' Club. On the corner of the Prado and 
Trocadero Street. A handsome three-story build- 
ing and the headquarters of a protective and 
benevolent society with a membership of over 
35,000. A magnificent ballroom on the upper 
floor is well worth visiting. 

Colon Market. Montserrate Street between 
Trocadero and Animas and reaching through to 
Zulueta Street. A short walk of a block from 
the Hotel Plaza on Central Park. 

Colon Park. A large and beautiful park occu- 
pying twelve blocks and facing the upper end 



PLACES OF INTEREST 95 

of the Prado or India Park. It is filled with 
flowers, shrubs, vines and innumerable royal palms 
with numerous handsome fountains, settees and 
bowers. The park contains a fairly good menag- 
erie of Cuban birds, animals and reptiles as well 
as many foreign species. A notable object in 
the park is a scale relief map of Cuba some thirty 
feet in length. 

Congress Building. See Senate Building, 
O'Reilly Street, fronting Plaza de Armas. 

Custom House. (Aduana.) On Officios Street 
at the foot of Teniente Rey. Reached by the 
" Aduana " cars or by walking two blocks south 
of Albisu Theatre on Montserrate Street to 
Teniente Rey and turning to the left to the water 
front. 

Customs Warehouse. The old Church of San 
Francisco is now occupied as a customs ware- 
house. This is close to the Machina Wharf near 
the Custom House. The church was desecrated 
by the English in 1762 and has never been used 
for religious purposes since. 

Dominican Convent. At the block bounded by 
O'Reilly, San Ignacio, Mercaderes and Obispo 



96 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Streets. Founded in 1578 and opened as a 
school by Dominican Friars in 1728. Later this 
school developed into the University of Havana 
which has been removed to a large building on 
Principe Hill. The adjoining church of Santo 
Domingo faces both O'Reilly and Mercaderes 
Streets. 

Franciscan Convent. Now the Havana Customs 
House; was commenced in 1574. It was dese- 
crated by the English in 1762 and has been aban- 
doned as a religious edifice ever since. Its in- 
terior is very imposing with enormous corridors, 
huge courts and wonderful arches. 

Francisco de Paula Church. On Paula Street, 
facing the harbour. This is an ancient church 
with a facade of antique Spanish design and is 
very interesting. 

Fuerza. O'Reilly Street and Plaza de Armas. 
Reached by " Aduana " cars or by walking down 
O'Reilly Street or Obispo Street to Plaza de 
Armas. 

Henry Clay Cigar Factory. On Zulueta Street, 
three blocks north of Central Park. This is one 
of the largest cigar factories in Cuba and is open 



PLACES OF INTEREST 97 

to visitors. It should be visited by all interested 
in this branch of Cuba's industries. 

Miramar Hotel. On the left hand side of the 
Prado facing the sea at the Malecon. Renowned 
for its restaurant and for its meals served at ta- 
bles in the open garden. 

House of Representatives. South side of Plaza* 

i 

de Armas. Open to the public when the Cuban 
congress is not in session. 

India Park. The upper end of the Prado, fac- 
ing Colon Park. 

Jail. The old jail is a great yellow building at 
the foot of the Prado on the right hand side. It 
contains many interesting relics of Spanish prison 
customs including the " Garrote " but is now oc- 
cupied by the Board of Education. 

Leper Hospital or San Lazaro. Oquendo Street 
and Malecon Drive, facing the Gulf of San 
Lazaro. In this hospital and the other San 
Lazaro hospital in Santa Clara all Cuban lepers 
are confined. Lepers are decreasing in numbers 
in Cuba and the disease is usually of a non-con- 
tagious, mild form. There are under 1,000 lepers 
in Cuba and the;? are well cared for and humanely 



98 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

treated. The Havana hospital was founded in 
1681 through the donations of a Mexican priest. 

Luz Wharf. Close to the Plaza de Armas. 
From this wharf the ferries leave for Casa Blanca, 
Regla and Guanabacoa across the bay. 

Malecon. Literally meaning a wall or embank- 
ment. A broad smooth boulevard leading to the 
west along the seawall from the foot of the Prado. 
The Malecon was commenced by Americans dur- 
ing the intervention — 1898-1902 — and has 
never been fully completed. It is intended to 
eventually carry it to the Vedado or beyond. 

Marti Theatre. Corner of Dragones and Zulueta 
Streets, one block from the Prado, to the east. 

Merced Church. Corner of Cuba and Merced 
Streets. Built in 1746 and the wealthiest and 
most aristocratic of Havana's churches. It con- 
tains a magnificent painting of the " Last Sup- 
per " and other paintings. 

Military Hospital. Situated on Principe Hill 
and reached by Principe trolley cars and bus from 
end of line. 

Morgue. A peculiar little building across Nep- 
tuno Park from the Punta. 



PLACES OF INTEREST 99 

National Bank. On Obispo Street at corner of 
Cuba Street. This is Havana's " skyscraper " 
and from its roof a magnificent view of the city 
may be obtained. The American Consulate is on 
the fifth floor. It is an up-to-date fire-proof 
building with elevator service and built in Span- 
ish style around an open court or " patio." 

National Library. On Chacon Street at the cor- 
ner of Maestranza. Open week days from 8 a.m. 
until 5 p.m. Contains over 20,000 volumes, with 
many rare old books dating back to the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries. Among these are the 
works of Las Casas, printed in 1552, and a " His- 
tory of the New World " by Benzoni, published 
in 1565. 

National Theatre, formerly the " Tacon." This 
is Cuba's largest theatre with a seating capacity 
of 3,000 and the fifth largest theatre in the world. 
It was constructed seventy-five years ago at a 
cost of half a million dollars and nearly all the 
greatest opera singers and actors have appeared 
here at one time or another. The theatre is on 
the Prado, facing Central Park, and as usual the 
lower floor is devoted to restaurants, stores, etc. 



100 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Pairet Theatre. Also facing Central Park on 
the southern side between the Prado and Zulueta 
Streets. 

Palace. Obispo and O'Reilly Streets and Plaza 
de Armas. 

Palace of Justice. To the left as one leaves the 
Cathedral. This building houses the Cuban De- 
partment of State and Justice. 

Paula Hospital for Women. On San Isidro 
Street between Cuba and Havana Streets. 

Pelota. This favourite Basque game is played 
in a court 175 feet long by 36 feet in width at the 
corner of Oquendo and Concordia Streets and 
known as the " Fronton." This game is ex- 
tremely popular and has unfortunately degene- 
rated into a gambling game. On the other hand 
it has to a large extent superseded cock-fighting 
and hence is a benefit. 

Plaza de Armas. The large square at the foot 
of Obispo and O'Reilly Streets around which are 
the Palace, the Post Office, the Fuerza and the 
Templete. 

Police Headquarters. Maestranza Building at 
No. 82 Cuba Street. Reached by trolley cars 



PLACES OF INTEREST 101 

or by walking down Obispo or O'Reilly Streets. 

Prado. The finest boulevard of the city, leading 
from India Park to the Malecon at Punta. The 
Prado consists of a series of small connected parks 
with a broad drive on either side and with a con- 
crete promenade in the centre. 

Principe Castle, or Fort. An interesting old 
fort in a splendid state of preservation. Now used 
as a jail. A magnificent view of Havana may be 
had from this fort. 

Produce Exchange. A magnificent, domed 
building close to Sar Francisco Wharf on San 
Francisco Plaza. Reached by Muelle or Aduana 
cars or by a walk down O'Reilly or Obispo Streets. 

Provincial Government Building. On San 
tJuan de Dios Park. Reached by turning north on 
Aguiar Street one block from O'Reilly Street. 

Punta Fort. Properly the " Castle San Salva- 
dor de la Punta," is to the right of the lower end 
of the Prado. It was commenced in 1589 at the 
same time as Morro across the harbour. When 
Morro was captured by the British in the war of 
176$ the guns of Morro were trained on the 
Punta and the surrender of the small fort gave 



102 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

the city to the English invaders. To-day the lit- 
tle fortress is mainly ornamental and with its 
bastions, moats and quaint sentry boxes adds a 
touch of romance and antiquity to the modern 
surroundings. 

The Summer Palace or Quinta de los Molinos. 
Situated on Carlos Tercera Avenue and may be 
reached by the " Principe " cars. 

San Juan de Dios Park. A neat little plaza con- 
taining a statue of Cervantes. Situated between 
Habana and Aguiar Streets on Emperado Street, 
one block north of O'Reilly. 

San Lazaro Watch Tower. An odd, round, 
watch-tower close to the shore on the Malecon 
near the Leper Hospital. Erected as a lookout 
for buccaneers. 

Santa Catalina Church and Convent. On 
O'Reilly Street. Built in 1698 and contains 
numerous relics of Christian martyrs brought 
from Rome. 

Santa Clara Church and Convent. The wealth- 
iest nunnery in Havana. Founded in 1644? and 
situated between Luz and Sol Streets. 

Santo Domingo Church. Close to the Domin- 



PLACES OF INTEREST 108 

ican Convent on O'Reilly Street and occupying 
the block bounded by San Ignacio, Obispo, and 
Mercaderes. This old church has a most attrac- 
tive and picturesque tower which forms a notable 
landmark when walking on or near O'Reilly Street. 
Students' Memorial. A fragment of wall deco- 
rated with bisque flowers and bearing an inscrip- 
tion. In Neptuno Park near the Punta fort at 
the foot of Zulueta Street and the Prado. 
Erected in memory of eight students of the Uni- 
versity who were massacred near this spot in 1871. 
The class of students was accused of desecrating 
the tomb of a Spaniard who was killed in a duel 
with a Cuban at Key West. The students were 
tried and acquitted, but a mob of Spanish volun- 
teers rose, paraded the streets and threatened the 
governor if he did not pass a death sentence on 
the accused. Through fear of the mob the find- 
ings of the court were reversed and eight students 
were executed and their bodies hauled away in an 
open cart and buried criss-cross in an open grave 
outside the limits of consecrated ground. The 
other members of the class were sentenced to hard 
labour and compelled to break stone in the quar- 



104 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

ries. Later on they were pardoned and spirited 
away to Europe while the bodies of those killed 
were reinterred in Colon Cemetery. 

Tacon Market. The largest market of Havana 
on La Reina Street, one block west of Colon Park. 
May be reached by trolley through Angeles or 
Reina Streets. 

Templete. The commemorative chapel known as 
El Templete is at the foot of O'Reilly Street on 
the Plaza de Armas fronting the palace. It was 
on this spot that the first settlers landed and at- 
tended mass under a Ceiba tree, a sprout from 
which (now a large tree) still stands within the 
enclosure surrounding the Templete. The build- 
ing is open 1 but once a year, on the night of 
November 15 — and on that evening and the fol- 
lowing day it is illuminated and decorated in com- 
memoration of the founding of Havana. 

Treasury Building. On a narrow street turning 
off to the right at the foot of Obispo Street. In 
this building Cuba's cash is stored and here also 
the lottery drawings take place. By walking 
straight through the interior patio one emerges 



PLACES OF INTEREST 105 

on the Plaza of San Francisco with the beautiful 
Produce Exchange building on the left. 

University of Havana. On a high hill near the 
El Principe fdrt back of Havana. It occupies a 
structure known formerly as the " Pirotencia 
Militar," which was used by the Spaniards as a 
barracks. Reached by the " Universidad-San 
Juan de Dios " cars with red and yellow sign- 
board. 

Ursuline Convent. On Egido Street near Dra- 
gones, about two blocks south of Central Park. 

Vedado. The new residential district reached 
by bus or trolley from the centre of the city. 
There are many fine houses, some beautiful 
grounds and well-shaded, pleasant streets in the 
district, but many of the roads are mere mudholes 
or stone-filled ruts and the effect of the district 
is ruined by rubbish, vacant lots and an uncared- 
for, unkempt appearance. 

Churches. 

Roman Catholic: Cathedral; Emperado and San Xg- 

nacio Streets. Belen; Luz and Compostela Streets. La 

Merced; Cuba and Merced Streets. San Augustin; Cuba 

and Amargura Streets. Santa Catalina; O'Reilly Street. 



106 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Santo Domingo; O'Reilly and Mercaderes Streets. Christo; 
Villegas and Amargura Streets. 

Episcopal: Holy Trinity, 107 Prado. 

Chubch op Christ: Arcade 9, Pasaje Hotel, Prado. 

Presbyterian: 90 Reina Street. 40 Salud Street. 

Methodist: 10 Virtudes Street. 

Baptist: Dragones and Zulueta Streets. 

Y. M. C. A.: 67 Prado. 

Theatres. 

Nacional: Prado facing Parque Central. 
Paibet: Prado near Central Park. 
Albisu: East of Central Park. 
Marti: Dragones and Zulueta Streets. 
Alambra: Consulado and Virtudes Streets. 
Actu alidades : Montserrate and Neptuno Streets. 
Pelota or Jai Alai: Concordia and Oquendo Streets. 
Cixes: or Moving Picture theatres, are everywhere. 

Trolley Car Signs. 

Cerro- San Juan de Dios Green and Bed Lights 

Cerro - Muelle de Luz Green Lights 

Cerro- Aduana ,. .Green and Purple Lights 

Cerro - Palatino Mixed Green and White Lights 

Jesus del Monte - San Juan de Dios Two Red Lights 

Jesus del Monte -Muelle de Luz ...Bed and Green Lights 

Jesus del Monte - Beneficencia Bed and White Lights 

Principe- San Juan de Dios Blue and Green Lights 

San Francisco - San Juan de Dios.. J3 foe and Green Lights 
San Francisco - Muelle de Luz... Ye How and Green Lights 

Universidad Two Blue Lights 

Universidad - Aduana Yellow and Blue Lights 

Vedado - San Juan de Dios White and Bed Lights 

Vedado - Muelle de Luz White and Green Lights 

Vedado- Cuatro Caminos White Lights 



PLACES OF INTEREST 107 

Banks of Havana. 
Banco Espanol de la Isla de Cuba. 
The National Bank of Cuba. 
Royal Bank of Canada. 
The National City Bank of New York. 
Trust Co. of Cuba. 
H. Hupmann & Co. 
Gelats & Co. 
Alvarez Valdes & Co. 
G. Lawton Childs Co. 

Havana Parks and Drives. 

Colon Park. Amistad and Reina Streets. 

Central Park. Prado Avenue. 

San Juan de Dios Park. Aguiar and Empedrado Streets. 

Trillo Park. Hospital and San Rafael Streets. 

Juan Bruno Zayas Park. Fronting the Post Office. 

Cristo Park. Villegas and Teniente Rey Streets. 

Luz Caballero Park. Carcel Street. 

India Park. Prado and Dragones Streets. 

Almeda de Paula. San Pedro Streets. 

Prado Avenue Drive. On the Prado. 

Plaza de Monserrate Park. Obispo and Monserrate Streets. 

Carlos III Drie. Belascoain Avenue. 

Maceo Park. San Lazaro Avenue. 

Malecon. End of the Prado. 

Plaza de Armas Park. Obispo and O'Reilly Streets, 

Medina Park. At Vedado. 

Tulipan Park. At Cerro. 

Railroad Stations in Havana. 

Cuba Railroad. 

United Railways of Havana. 

Havana Central Railways. 

Western Railways of Havana. 

All trains depart from the new Central Station. 

Marianao Railway, trains for Country Club, Racetrack, 
Marianao and Beach, at corner of Galiano and Zanja 
Streets. 



108 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 



Summary of Points of Interest in Havana and Suburbs. 



Alameda 

Albear Square 

Albisu Theatre 

American Consulate 

American Club 

Angeles Church 

Atares Castle 

Baseball Grounds 

Belen Church 

Beneflcia Home 

Botanical Gardens 

Caballera Wharf 

Campo Marte 

Cathedral 

Central Station 

Christ Church 

City Wall 

Clerks' Club 

Colon Market 

Colon Park 

Congress Building 

Custom House 

Customs Warehouse 

Dominican Convent 

Franciscan Convent 

Francisco de Paula Church 

Fuerza 

Henry Clay Cigar Factory 

Miramar Hotel 

House of Representatives 

India Park 

Jail 



Leper Hospital or 

San Lazaro 
Luz Wharf 
Malecon 
Marti Theatre 
Merced Church 
Military Hospital 
Morgue 
National Bank 
National Library 
National Theatre 
Pairet Theatre 
Palace 

Palace of Justice 
Paula Hospital for Women 
Pelota 

Plaza de Armas 
Police Headquarters 
Prado 

Principe Castle, or Fort 
Produce Exchange 
Provincial Government 

Building 
Punta Fort 
Summer Palace or Quinta 

de los Molinos 
San Juan de Diso Park 
San Lazaro Watch Tower 
Santa Catalina Church and 

Convent 
Santa Clara Church and 

Convent 



PLACES OF INTEREST 109 

Santo Domingo Church Treasury Building 

Students' Memorial University of Havana 

Tacon Market Ursuline Convent 

Templete Vedado 



110 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Havana's Cab System. 
Havana has an excellent cab service with a rea- 
sonable tariff fixed by law. Tourists who wish to 
avoid all difficulties with cabmen should never 
engage a public vehicle for a long drive ( for which 
there is no fixed tariff) without previously, 
through an interpreter, having agreed with the 
driver, as to the route, the stops to be made, and 
the amount to 'be paid at the end of the trip. Few, 
if any, of the cabmen speak English and not many 
tourists speak Spanish, hence the need of an in- 
terpreter. 

Havana's Police. 

Havana's police force numbers about 2,000 men, 
including officers who regulate street traffic. The 
city is adequately patrolled. Many of the police- 
men are veterans of the War of Independence. 

What the Tourist Can Take Home. 

Tourists leaving Cuba can carry with them into 
the United States articles up to the value of $100 
without paying duty. These articles should be "in 
the nature of personal and household effects, 



PLACES OF INTEREST 111 

curios, souvenirs, wearing apparel, made up or 
unmade, table linen and chinaware," according to 
a ruling of the United States Treasury Depart- 
ment. This exemption includes the following 
things which are in demand among tourists visiting 
Cuba : 

Hand-made laces, table linen and embroideries, 
bed linen, dresses, fans, antique furniture, bric-a- 
brac, chinaware, souvenirs and panama hats. 

Fifty cigars or 300 cigarettes may be taken 
into the United States by each passenger free of 
duty. This exemption is in addition to the $100 
exemption. 

Although aigrettes or feathers from wild birds 
may be taken from the United States by tourists, 
they cannot be returned to the country. This 
prohibition does not apply to ostrich plumes or 
those of domestic fowls. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE PROVINCES OF CUBA 

In the minds of many people Cuba is Havana and 
Havana is Cuba. While it is true that the fas- 
cinating metropolis of the Antilles is the centre of 
Cuban life, business and commerce, yet it is far 
from characteristic of Cuba or Cuban life as a 
whole, and its surroundings, resources and indus- 
tries, as well as the character of the surrounding 
country, are only typical of this one of Cuba's 
six provinces, and the smallest of the provinces 
at that. 

Each province is noted for some particular in- 
dustries, products or resources ; each is distinct in 
scenery, soil and formation ; and each must be vis- 
ited if one desires a true insight into Cuba as a 
whole. One might just as well judge the Empire 
State by New York City or form an opinion of 
New England by visiting Boston, as to judge Cuba 
by Havana; and to have a real knowledge of 
Cuba's resources, character, scenery and life one 

112 



THE PROVINCES OF CUBA 113 

must travel over the Island from end to end or 
must visit the principal ports by a coasting 
steamer. 

Only in this way can one appreciate the vastness, 
fertility, wealth and possibilities of Cuba and the 
time and expense incurred is well repaid by the 
marvellously beautiful scenery, the quaint rural 
towns, the delicious climate and the varied indus- 
tries to be met in thus touring over the " Pearl 
of the Antilles." 

Travel in Cuba is easy and comfortable for the 
various railways cover the surface with a network 
of tracks and the traveller may speed here and 
there over the Island in the latest of Pullman cars 
and at a speed equal to that of our best American 
express trains. 

The six provinces of Cuba divide the Island into 
six sections of unequal size ; each province extend- 
ing across the Island from north to south and 
each with a good-sized city or town as its capital 
and each with one or more good harbours and 
deep-water ports. 

From west to east the provinces are, Pinar del 
Rio, Havana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Camaguey 



114 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

and Oriente, and their principal characteristics, 
area, population and resources are as follows : 

Pinar del Rio. 

The province of this name extends from the west- 
ern extremity of Cuba to the boundary of Havana 
province and contains some 13,000 square kilo- 
metres or 5,000 square miles with 240,375 inhab- 
itants. It is pre-eminently an agricultural prov- 
ince and is noted for the tobacco known as 
" Vuelta Aba j o " which is considered the finest 
tobacco in the world. 

Considerable coffee, cane, pineapples, cattle and 
other products are also raised. There are asphalt 
mines at Mariel and Bahia Honda, iron and cop- 
per mines near Vinales and Mantua, and other 
unexploited mineral deposits in various parts of 
the district. The province is mainly level, rolling 
land but the Guaniguanico mountains extend 
along the northern coast and various isolated 
peaks and small ranges are located in the north- 
ern and western districts. The capital is Pinar 
del Rio which is connected with Havana by rail- 
way and automobile road. 



THE PROVINCES OF CUBA 115 

Havana. 

This is a small province of 7,300 square kilo- 
metres, or 2,772 square miles, extending from the 
southern to . the northern coast and from Pinar 
del Rio on the west to Matanzas on the east. Al- 
though the smallest of the six Cuban provinces, 
yet it is the most densely inhabited, the population 
being about 538,000. The wealth of Havana lies 
mainly in its commerce and manufactures but con- 
siderable agriculture is carried on, there are 
twenty sugar plantations in the district, and cop- 
per mines are in operation at Bejucal and Jaruco. 
Havana province includes the Isle of Pines. 

Matanzas. 

This is the second smallest province with an area 
of 9,500 square kilometres, or 3,700 square miles, 
and a population of 239,820 inhabitants. It is 
situated east of Havana; bounded on the north 
by the sea and on the east by Santa Clara and has 
but a very small southern coast on the Gulf of 
Batabano, the province of Santa Clara extending 
along most of its southern side. Matanzas has 
five sugar plantations and many other agricultural 



116 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

industries, besides asphalt mines in Cardenas and 
Marti. Matanzas is best known from the town of 
the same name which is situated in the beautiful 
Yumuri Valley and in its vicinity are the won- 
derful caves of Bellamar. 

Santa Clara. 

This large province extends from Matanzas to 
Camagiiey and from sea to sea and has an area 
of 24,700 square kilometres or 9,560 square miles, 
with a population of nearly half a million inhabi- 
tants. It is the most important province as far 
as sugar plantations are concerned and has sixty- 
eight sugar estates within its boundaries. There 
are also mines of gold, copper, iron and asphalt, 
while various agricultural products are raised. 
The surface is level or rolling with no high hills 
or mountains save in the northeast and southeast 
while the soil is rich, deep and well watered. The 
capital is Santa Clara, while the important towns 
of Cienfuegos, Sagua la Grande, Caibarien, 
Sancti Spiritus and other thriving cities are 
within the borders of the province. 



THE PROVINCES OF CUBA 117 

Camagiiey. 

A large province extending from sea to sea and 
from Santa Clara on the west to Oriente on the 
east. Area £7,000 square kilometres or 10,500 
square miles, population 118,209. This province 
is probably the richest of all in Cuba and is the 
best suited for agricultural industries, cattle and 
future development. Its deep, rich soil, level, 
well-watered surface, high altitude and magnifi- 
cent climate recommend it particularly to colon- 
ists and settlers and thousands of foreigners, and 
especially Americans, have settled in the province. 
There are also valuable forests of cedar, mahog- 
any and other woods and rich deposits of copper, 
iron, asphalt and other minerals in the province. 
The capital is Camagiiey, formerly known as 
Puerto Principe, while other important towns are 
Santa Cruz del Sur, Jucaro, Moron, La Gloria, 
Nuevitas, Minas, Florida, etc. 

Santiago or more properly " Oriente " is the most 
easterly of the six provinces of Cuba, as well as the 
largest. It is second in importance and the oldest 
province, having been founded in 1514 by Diego 



118 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Velasquez and from 1515 to 1556 was the capital 
of the Island. Its area is 33,000 square kilometres 
or 12,468 square miles, and its population half a 
million. Santiago is famous as the scene of most 
of the actual fighting between the Americans and 
Spaniards, El Caney, San Juan Hill, Guantanamo 
and Siboney all being in this province, while the 
capital town of Santiago de Cuba was the scene 
of the destruction of the Spanish fleet. Much of 
Oriente Province is devoted to agriculture and 
there are twenty-six sugar plantations in the dis- 
trict, but the greatest wealth of the province is 
in its minerals, nine-tenths of all the Island's min- 
eral deposits being found in Santiago province. 
There are also immense forests of cabinet woods, 
many of which are untouched, while the highest 
mountains of Cuba and the second highest in the 
Antilles are in the Sierra Maestra along the 
southern shore of Oriente. Puerto Padre, Gibara, 
Nipe, Vita, Baracoa, and Manzanillo are impor- 
tant ports on the coast. 

From Havana to Santiago is a distance of some 
550 miles which is covered by the train in 24 
hours. This is an ideal trip for the visitor de- 



THE PROVINCES OF CUBA 119 

siring to see the interior of Cuba and stop'-over 
tickets may be secured which will enable the trav- 
eller to spend any reasonable amount of time in 
any interesting towns along the line. Moreover, 
it is not necessary to cover the route twice, for 
the visitor may go to Cuba via Havana; travel 
through the interior and return to New York 
from Santiago or vice versa; or, better still, he 
may travel from Havana to Santiago by rail, re- 
turn to Havana by coastal steamer and thus see 
both the interior of the Island and the northern 
coast, while important places on the south coast 
may be reached by branch railways leading from 
the main line. 

While the coastal towns of Cuba are interesting 
for their life, customs and picturesque situations, 
yet they are never typical of Cuba's resources, 
and if but one long trip can be taken it should by 
all means be through the heart of the Island. 



CHAPTER IX 

THROUGH THE INTERIOR 

Feom Havana to Santa Clara the interior of 
Cuba is mostly flat, uninteresting country de- 
voted to pineapple, cane and grass raising and 
the numerous small towns along the line are very 
similar and have little of interest for the trav- 
eller. For this reason it is best to take the even- 
ing train from Havana, leaving at 10 p.m. and 
arriving in Santiago some twenty-four hours 
later, the entire trip being made without change 
of cars although the route is over two separate 
lines ; the United Railways of Havana as far as 
Santa Clara and the Cuba Railway from Santa 
Clara eastward. Sleeping cars and observation 
coaches are attached to the principal trains. 

By taking this train the most uninteresting 
scenery and towns are passed during the hours of 
darkness and the traveler has the entire follow- 
ing day to enjoy the most fascinating and varied 



THROUGH THE INTERIOR 121 

scenery and the most interesting towns of Cuba's 
interior. 

Santa Clara, the junction of the Cuba Railway 
with the United Railway of Havana, is 184 miles 
from Havana and is reached about daylight. The 
city is the capital of its province and has a popu- 
lation of about 20,000. It is an important sugar- 
producing and cattle-raising centre, the district 
producing nearly one-third of the total sugar 
raised in the Island. Santa Clara is a compara- 
tively modern town with many fine buildings, ex- 
cellent streets and a famous theatre known as 
the " Teatro de la Caridad," the proceeds from 
which are wholly devoted to the city schools and 
which was presented to the municipality by a na- 
tive lady. The cathedral is also worthy of a 
visit as it contains a painting of the Madonna 
attributed to one of the Spanish masters and 
which has hung in this church for over 200 years. 
The town has electric lights, a good water sup*- 
ply and excellent restaurants and hotels. It has 
a healthy climate, is noted for its thrift and the 
beauty of its women, and in many ways is an ideal 
spot for a brief sojourn. 



122 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

From Santa Clara the train runs through a 
country of charming scenery devoted to cane, to- 
bacco and cattle and broken by glistening streams, 
groves of palms and great masses of feathery 
bamboo. 

Placetas del Sur. Here the road connects with 
the branch line to Caibarien and other points on 
the north coast. To the south of this town is 
the beautiful Manicaragua Valley famed for its 
tobacco, while the fields on every hand are filled 
with sleek cattle grazing on the rich green grass 
of the broad pastures. 

Zaza del Medio, 237 miles from Havana, is 
reached about eight o'clock. This town has a 
most charming little railway station and the city 
itself is beautifully situated in a rich agricultural 
section on the banks of the broad and tranquil 
Zaza River — one of the important water courses 
of the Island. The Zaza Valley is wonderfully 
rich and entrancingly beautiful with the rolling 
green hills, wide tobacco and cane fields, grass- 
covered llanuras and innumerable groves of royal 
palms and flaming poinciana trees and with the 



THROUGH THE INTERIOR 123 

shimmering river winding in great, silvery curves 
between its verdured banks. 

Sancti Spiritus. From Zaza a branch road leads 
to Sancti Spiritus, seven miles to the south; a 
most interesting town of 18,000 inhabitants which 
was founded in 1514. Sancti Spiritus soon be- 
came rich enough to attract the attention of 
pirates who invaded it in 1667, " much to the 
detriment of the persons and properties of its 
inhabitants," as the historian Pezuela quaintly 
remarks. Once more in 1719 the town was sacked 
by French and English pirates from the Bahamas 
and frequently thereafter the town suffered the 
vicissitudes of warfare, — notably during the War 
of Liberation and numerous bullet and shell holes 
may still be seen in the buildings and walls of the 
town. The town possesses an excellent water sys- 
tem and a trip to the pumping station on the 
Yayabo River is well worth while. The ancient 
church of Sancti Spiritus dates from the sixteenth 
century and is very interesting. 

Passing through the small but thriving towns 
of Siguaney, Taguasco, Jatibonico, Trilladeras, 



124* CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Majagia, and Guayacanes the town of Cagusal is 
reached. This town is in the centre of a rich and 
beautiful country with numerous forests of val- 
uable hardwoods, such as mahogany, Majagua, 
Acana and Spanish cedar; trees of which may be 
seen growing side by side with the tobacco which 
their timber will eventually box. 

Ciego de Avila, 280 miles from Havana. Here 
the famous military barrier or trocha may be 
seen. This cleared, barb-wired road was con- 
structed by the Spaniards during the revolution 
and little forts were erected at intervals of a kilo- 
metre apart all the way across the country from 
San Fernando on the northern coast to Jucaro on 
the south. Many of these little fortresses still 
stand, — dilapidated and overgrown with orchids, 
vines and moss ; mute testimonials to the bloody 
struggle that at last freed Cuba from her thral- 
dom. 

Each of these tiny forts or blockhouses is twenty 
feet square, of heavy masonry in the lower story 
and topped by a square tower of corrugated iron. 
Originally there were 210 of these forts which 
were quite picturesque with their only entrance 



THROUGH THE INTERIOR 125 

ten or twelve feet above the base and their sides 
pierced with loopholes for rifle fire. Each was 
equipped with a powerful searchlight and was in 
direct telephonic communication with its fellows. 
Although this triple line of defence, consisting of 
a railway, a barbed-wire fence and the row of 
forts with their armed guards was supposed to be 
a perfectly effective means of preventing the Cu- 
bans from passing from one end of the Island to 
the other, yet the revolutionists seemed to have 
little difficulty in wandering hither and thither 
and crossed the famous trocha wherever and 
whenever they willed. In a way, however, the 
trocha has proved of benefit to the Cubans, for 
the half-mile clearing across the Island is now 
being converted into gardens, orchards and fields 
by the agriculturally inclined Cubans who have 
laid aside their carbines in favour of the hoe. 

Ciego is a thriving town of about 5,000 inhabi- 
tants in a sugar and cattle country and two large 
sawmills are busily engaged in transforming the 
surrounding forests into mahogany boards and 
cedar cigar boxes. 

Ciego has a neat and satisfactory railway res- 



126 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

taurant and all trains stop for half an hour or so 
for meals. In fact, throughout Cuba on the line 
of the railway the restaurants are splendid, the 
food abundant, the cooking excellent, the prices 
moderate and the service prompt. The town it- 
self has little to interest the traveller, but a few 
miles to the north and connected by a cross-coun- 
try railway line is the Ceballos colony where fruit 
growing on a large scale has been undertaken. 
Here orange, lemon, lime and grape-fruit trees are 
grown and the colony, composed mainly of 
Canadians and Americans, has done much to make 
the place prosperoiis and attractive. 

Beyond Ciego the train enters a country of 
heavy tropical forests, broad, smiling pastures 
and fertile valleys with here and there sawmills 
busily converting the timber into boards, cattle 
feeding by the rivers or banner-leaved banana 
trees stretching far into the distance. Every few 
miles tiny wayside stations are passed; Santa 
Rita, Colorado, Gaspar, Corojo Salvador, Ces- 
pedes, Florida, Algarrobo and Guarina; each 
with its clustered red-tiled or thatched-roof 
houses, its group of lounging, swarthy-skinned na- 



THROUGH THE INTERIOR 127 

tives and its crowds of half- or wholly-naked chil- 
dren. Now and then the train roars across a 
culvert or bridge or shrieks at some cartroad 
crossing where huge-wheeled, lumbering bull teams 
wait apathetically for the train to pass. 

In many places neat wooden cottages and well- 
kept gardens apprise the traveller of the presence 
of foreign settlers and Americans, Germans, 
Scandinavians and others are seen in groups upon 
the station platforms or working, supervising and 
directing on the neat and thriving farms and 
fruit orchards. 

Gradually the forests grow fewer and more 
scattered, fruit trees and banana portreros give 
way to broad fields of waving Guinea grass, and 
herds of cattle are seen dotting the rolling, open 
country, while far ahead the tall church towers 
of ancient Camagiiey rise from the greenery into 
the shimmering blue. 

Camagiiey, once known as Puerto Prmcipe t is 
in a high interior plain 500 to 700 feet above the 
sea, with the purpling mountains adding a charm- 
ing background to the level land. It is an ex- 
tremely healthy spot with the trade-winds ever 



128 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

sweeping across from the northeast during the 
day and the cool night winds blowing from the 
mountains at night. The name of " Puerto 
Principe " or Prince's Port seems an anomaly for 
this mid-island town. Originally, however, the 
city was located on the coast near the present-day 
port of Nuevitas. So frequently was it attacked 
by pirates, however, that within a year from its 
founding, in 1515, the harassed settlers were 
obliged to remove inland. Even this did not save 
the town from pillage and in 1665 the inland city 
was plundered by Morgan, who made a forced 
march from the coast and secured a vast treas- 
ure, which the people had accumulated through 
raising cattle. 

In Esquemeling's " Historie of the Bucaniers " 
printed in 1668 there is a quaint and interesting 
recital of this bloody raid, a portion of which is 
quoted as follows : " As soon as the Pyrates had 
possessed themselves of the Town, they closed all 
the Spaniards, Men, Women and Children and 
Slaves in the severall churches and pillaged all the 
Goods they could set their hands on. Then they 
searched through the Country round about daily 



THROUGH THE INTERIOR 129 

bringing in many Goods and Prisoners with much 
Provision. With this in hand they set to making 
great Cheer after their custom without remember- 
ing their poor Prisoners whom they left to starve 
in the Churches; though they tormented them 
daily and inhumanely, to cause them to confess 
wherein they had hid their Treasure; though of a 
fact little or nothing was left to them, not sparing 
the Women and little Children, giving them no 
food to eat and whereby the greater part miser- 
ably perished." 

At last having thoroughly exhausted the re- 
sources of the city and obtained all available goods 
and money they killed many of the inhabitants 
and left for the coast and their ships, driving with 
them over 500 head of cattle and many prisoners, 
who were compelled to slaughter and dress the 
beeves for provisioning the ships. 

Several of the old churches, wherein these poor 
captives were starved, are still to be seen in the 
city which now is more often known by the Indian 
name of Camagiiey than by its original name of 
Puerto Principe. Camagiiey's streets are often 
narrow and crooked, many rough or unpaved and 



130 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

lined with buildings of the quaintest and most 
ancient type to be seen in Cuba. In many places 
one sees the immense water jars or tinajones, often 
six feet in diameter and holding 500 gallons, which 
in former times were the only reservoirs of the 
town. In the old days the tinajones stood in the 
patios beneath the roofs to catch the rain water 
but now they are seldom used save as curiosities 
or to hold growing palms or plants ; but in the dis- 
trict a heavy drinker is still called a tinajon, — a 
fitting nickname for a human " tank." 

Camaguey looks its age, for even with its mod- 
ern improvements and its twentieth-century pros- 
perity it is filled with picturesque nooks and cor- 
ners, while the projecting windows and grills of 
antique iron, the heavy stone cornices and red-tiled 
roofs give it a Moorish, Oriental aspect to be found 
in but few cities in Cuba. Camaguey is noted for 
its numerous ancient churches, among them La 
Merced, built in 1628, and one of the churches 
within which Morgan starved and tortured his 
prisoners. The church is now the property of 
the Barefooted Carmelites from Spain and the 
daily singing by their choir is an attractive fea- 




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THROUGH THE INTERIOR 131 

ture of the services. The immense walls of this 
church seem built to withstand a siege and in many 
places are from four to eight feet thick. The 
high altar is of solid silver constructed from 
40,000 Spanish dollars while a sepulchre contain- 
ing an image of Christ is made of beaten silver 
and weighs over 500 pounds. On Good Friday 
this silver sepulchre is carried through the streets 
on the shoulders of men who feel highly honoured 
by the privilege. 

Besides La Merced there are seven other note- 
worthy churches in the town, prominent among 
which is La Soledad, dating back to 1697 and 
with interior frescoes which are unique although 
they were made in 1852. 

In the suburbs is another fine church, Nuestra 
Senora de la Caridad, or " Our Lady of Charity," 
on the drive to Santa Cruz bridge over the 
Hatibonico River. On this road also is the 
Casino, while near the Caridad Church is a re- 
markable well thirty feet in depth and twenty 
feet in diameter and hewn from the solid rock with 
a winding stairway leading from the surface to 
the water. The town has a very attractive plaza, 



132 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

known as the " Agramonte " and on one side is the 
ancient picturesque cathedral. 

Since the intervention by the United States and 
the liberation of the Cubans, ancient Camagiiey 
has forged rapidly ahead and has made wonderful 
progress. Here the Cuban Railway has its head- 
quarters and here the railway company has es- 
tablished one of the finest hotels in Spanish Amer- 
ica. This building was constructed many years 
ago as a cavalry and infantry barracks and cov- 
ers nearly five acres and was designed to accommo- 
date 2,000 troops. 

This massive building, with its great corridors, 
has been renovated, remodelled and transformed 
to a modern hotel with sanitary plumbing, artesian 
wells, electric lights and every improvement, while 
the immense patios are filled with palms, shade 
trees, vines and glorious tropical plants and flow- 
ers. With this modern hotel, the clean streets, 
beautiful parks, electric street cars and lights, 
artesian well-water and its wonderful winter cli- 
mate, Camagiiey is the ideal Cuban resort for 
American tourists, while the odd byways, ancient 
buildings and historical interest add greatly to its 



THROUGH THE INTERIOR 133 

charm. Many of the residents of Camagiiey and 
numbers of settlers in the neighbourhood are 
Americans, and English is spoken generally in the 
town. From Camagiiey numerous excursions may 
be taken by coach, bus, auto or horseback, while 
a railway connects the city with its port of 
Nuevitas forty-five miles distant. 

All about Camagiiey is a rich garden and graz- 
ing district with ranches covering thousands of 
acres, immense herds of cattle, great fruit and 
truck gardens and many acres of valuable timber. 
It is the most promising district on the Island, with 
resources almost untouched and is a perfect para- 
dise for Northern farmers who desire to settle in 
a Southern land. 

Marti, at the junction of the main line and the 
branches to Bayamo, San Luis and Manzanillo, 
is named in honour of the Cuban patriot, while 
Palo Seco, just south of the railway, was the 
scene of one of the most important battles be- 
tween the Spaniards and Cubans during the fa- 
mous Ten Years' War (1868-78) and in which 
General Maximo Gomez defeated the Spaniards. 
Just beyond Palo Seco the boundary of Camagiiey 



134 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

is passed and a little later the train reaches Bartle, 
a new town, where a prosperous Canadian colony- 
is engaged in growing citrus fruits. 

Las Tunas. Fifteen miles further east Las 
Tunas is reached, a thriving town of £,500 inhab- 
itants and famous as the scene of a most remark- 
able victory over the Spanish won by the Cubans 
in 1896. At that time the town was defended by 
600 Spanish regulars and two Krupp twelve-pound 
guns, but after two days of hard fighting it was 
captured by Calixto Garcia's force of 600 men 
and the entire Spanish garrison was captured. 
In this battle General Frederick Funston was an 
officer in command of the Cuban artillery and 
much of the success of the battle was due to the 
splendid artillery fire directed by him. At the 
end of the war not a house remained standing in 
Las Tunas, but from the wreckage a new and bet- 
ter town has arisen and to-day Las Tunas is on 
the highroad to prosperity and wealth. Within 
a radius of a dozen miles of the town American 
and Canadian colonists have set out over a thou- 
sand acres of citrus fruit trees and so rich is the 
soil that no fertilizer whatever is required. 



THROUGH THE INTERIOR 135 

Beyond Las Tunas the character of the country 
rapidly changes and the open plains are soon left 
behind and the train rolls through a forest region 
with wonderful trees crowding close to the tracks 
and with each and every station piled high with 
sweet-scented cedar, rich mahogany, logwood and 
lignum vitae. For mile after mile the train 
passes through forests with here and there 
glimpses of logging camps or great naked gaps in 
the wilderness where energetic lumbermen have 
felled the huge trees and are rapidly clearing the 
land for grazing and agricultural uses. 

Alto Cedro, 491 miles from Havana, is reached 
at 7:05 p.m. and here a stop of twenty-five min- 
utes is made for meals which are served at the 
restaurant on the station platform. Although it 
is still broad daylight at the station and the clear- 
ings about it, yet the surrounding forests are 
dark with shadows and here and there the great 
Ceiba trees loom weird and gigantic with their 
huge, buttressed trunks, hanging, twisting lianas 
and numerous clinging air plants. 

From Alto Cedro eastward darkness comes on 
rapidly and the traveller grudges each fleeting mo- 



136 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

ment of daylight for the scenery becomes won- 
derfully wild, picturesque and diversified, while 
here and there one catches brief glimpses of the 
broad Cauto, the largest of the Cuban rivers. 

Paso, Estancia, Bayate, Palmarito, San Nicolas, 
Azua, are passed rapidly in the twilight; then 
San Luis with its great sugar mill, followed by 
Dos Caminos, Moron and Cristo, the so-called 
" Garden of Santiago," with its villas of wealthy 
families embowered in riotous tropical foliage. 
Then, dropping downward through a narrow defile 
in the towering Maestra Mountains, the train 
rumbles through a winding pass, circles the edges 
of dizzy, velvet-black ravines, crawls around pre- 
cipitous cliffs, roars across bridges and flashing 
past the twinkling lights of the suburbs halts, 
panting, in the station of Santiago de Cuba. 

Santiago, always interesting, ever quaint and 
picturesque, ancient, hot, and like no other city 
in the New World, has become doubly attractive 
to Americans since the thrilling events which took 
place in its neighbourhood during our brief con- 
flict with Spain. 

Aside from its hilly, breath-exhausting streets 



THROUGH THE INTERIOR 137 

and its torrid, midday temperature, Santiago is 
a charming city. The dirt and filth and odours 
of its olden days have disappeared, its rough and 
cobbled streets have been replaced with asphalt 
and Macadam, trolley cars have been installed, a 
splendid water supply is in operation, electric 
lights and telephones are everywhere, the sanitary 
and health conditions are beyond criticism and 
the hotel accommodations are excellent. 

Built on several hills, surrounded by rugged, 
verdure-clad mountains, in the midst of wild trop- 
ical scenery and with its peerless harbour hidden 
among the surrounding hills and its radiant soft- 
toned houses, red-tiled roofs, and stair-like streets, 
Santiago has a character and atmosphere all its 
own and many days may be spent in rambling 
over it and visiting the numerous interesting spots 
in its vicinity. 



CHAPTER X 

SANTIAGO AND ITS ENVIRONS 

Santiago, to be seen at its best, should be ap- 
proached from the sea. As the ship draws near 
the harbour the historic Morro takes form, its 
age-grey walls fitting so closely to the lofty cliff 
whereon it stands that it seems indeed a very por- 
tion of the rocky promontory that rises a sheer 
200 feet above the sea. At the base of the cliff 
the ceaseless waves beat in a mass of milky foam 
and roar in great dark caverns worn deep into 
the rock through countless ages. Impregnable it 
seems ; a frowning, mediaeval fortress with quaint, 
stone sentry-boxes overhanging the abyss beneath ; 
rock-ribbed and vast, with turrets, walls, towers 
and armed battlements tinted in pink and grey 
and scarce altered since first the Spanish Dons 
laid its foundations four centuries ago. 

Through countless storms and floods, through 

hurricane and battle, has old Morro stood upon 
138 



SANTIAGO AND ITS ENVIRONS 139 

its lofty perch and though taken by the reckless, 
savage hordes of buccaneers and by the indom- 
itable British troops, it still looks down upon the 
passing ships, — hoary with age, battle-scarred 
but intact, — a wonderful monument to mark the 
entrance to the still more wonderful harbour that 
it guards. 

Slowly the steamer glides beneath the Morro and 
a moment later the narrow entrance to the bay 
appears ahead, — a strait scarce 500 feet in width, 
leading between two wooded points; — to the 
right the Morro, to the left La Socapa, and ahead 
a winding waterway bordered by palm-fringed 
shores, verdured hills and silver beaches. 

Within the entrance Estrella Point and its old- 
time battery is passed, then Punta Gorda with its 
embrasured ramparts and presently Cayo Smith, 
— picturesque, hilly islet with red-tiled houses 
crowned by a tiny chapel. Through the winding, 
narrow, land-locked channel the ship sails and 
presently the last turn is made and before us lies 
Santiago at the head of its great pouch-shaped 
harbour ; — a smooth, mountain-girt bay six 
miles in length by three miles wide, — =the finest 



140 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

harbour of Cuba and one of the best in the world. 

Above the waterside the quaint Oriental city 
stretches up a hillside; at its foot, palm-embow- 
ered Marine Park; at its head the cathedral, and 
everywhere a sea of red-tiled roofs ; of pink, blue, 
yellow and lilac houses set off by waving palm- 
fronds and over all a glorious azure sky, broken 
only by black specks of vultures that soar on 
motionless wings in great sweeping circles through 
the heavens. 

Not only is Santiago unique, quaint and Orien- 
tal. Here Velasquez, the founder of Cuba, set- 
tled in 1515 ; here he died and was buried in 1522; 
here in Santiago lived Hernando Cortes in a house 
still standing near the top of the hill, a quaint 
one-story dwelling with tiled roof and wooden- 
grilled windows from which a glorious view is had 
of mountains, harbour and town. Here too dwelt 
Bartholomew Las Casas and here also dwelt Doc- 
tor Antomarchi, the physician who was at Napo- 
leon's bedside when the ill-fated conqueror died 
in St. Helena. Afterwards the doctor toured the 
world and chancing in Santiago he met a long-lost 
brother and settled down in this new land to live 



SANTIAGO AND ITS ENVIRONS 141 

in peace until stricken with the dread yellow fever, 
as set forth on his monument in Santiago's ceme- 
tery. 

In Santiago the first school in Cuba was estab- 
lished in 1522 and near the site of this old school 
a new and model American school now stands, — a 
school erected at a cost of $50,000.00, nearly half 
of which was contributed by a single American 
citizen — Mr. H. LL Higginson of Boston. 

Near Santiago's Plaza stands the Filarmonia 
Theatre and in this out-of-the-world and ancient 
town the far-famed Patti made her debut when 
fourteen years of age. 

Well indeed may the Santiagoans be proud of 
their city and its history, but there is a darker 
side as well. 'Twas here that the Spaniards shot 
down the captain and crew of the American 
steamer Virginms in 1873, adding insult to their 
butchery by shooting them in the public slaughter 
house and to-day a monument marks the spot with 
the inscription " You who pass here uncover your 
head. It is consecrated earth. For thirty years 
it has been blessed by the blood of patriots sacri- 
ficed to tyranny.'* 



142 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Despicable and atrocious as was this bloody deed 
committed by the Spanish officials yet we can say 
but little, for our own government overlooked it, 
whitewashed it with diplomacy and forgot it. 

Before the Spanish war Santiago was a dirty, 
odorous, pestilential town, palpitating with heat, 
alive with cur dogs and vermin and the home of 
Yellow Jack. To-day the streets are clean and 
well kept, the odours are hardly noticeable, away 
from the docks; disease has been practically 
stamped out and while the heat still remains one 
can be quite comfortable and can find much of 
interest and attraction in Santiago. 

The Alameda or park drive extends along the 
water-front and is a favourite resort of the fash- 
ionable people in the late afternoon and on Sun- 
days, but the upper portion of the town is the 
most attractive to the visitor and is the coolest 
district. The central feature of Santiago, as in 
all Spanish American towns, is the plaza. On one 
side is the old cathedral, the largest in Cuba, with 
an immense dome and twin towers, its huge nave, 
rare marbles, mahogany choir-stalls and side 
chapels. On another side of the plaza is the San 



SANTIAGO AND ITS ENVIRONS 14r3 

Carlos Club ; near by is the Casa Grande Hotel ; 
on the north is the Municipal Building and on the 
west is the famous Venus Restaurant. Although 
the days are hot in Santiago the nights are cool 
and beautiful, and one may sit at ease in the plaza, 
listen to the band and watch "All the world" 
pass in review, — a gay, colourful, spectacular 
parade of Santiago's populace. 

Around and about Santiago are many pleasant 
drives and carriages or automobiles may be hired 
by the trip or hour at reasonable rates which are 
regulated by law. In Santiago American cur- 
rency is the basis of all transactions and nearly 
everywhere English is spoken, while the stores and 
shops are well-stocked, prices are reasonable and 
the people are polite, courteous and anxious to 
please. 

Attractive and interesting as is Santiago itself, 
the majority of American visitors are more in- 
terested in the surrounding country and the 
scenes of the most notable events in the Spanish 
war. 

San Juan battlefield, the Peace Tree, El Caney 
and Morro, are all within easy reach. An electric 



144 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

car line carries the traveller from the city to 
within easy walking distance of San Juan Hill 
and the Peace Tree, or a carriage or auto may be 
taken if desired. San Juan Hill is about three 
miles from the town and from the hill beyond the 
Peace Tree a splendid view may be had of the sur- 
rounding country and the route followed by the 
American troops in their march on San Juan. 

El Caney is a quaint Indian village which was 
almost unknown to the outside world until the 
attack by the Americans in 1898 and since the 
war it has lapsed into its wonted oblivion, only 
disturbed by the frequent visits of tourists who 
travel to the isolated spot to view the crumbling 
remains of the little fort which after the assault 
and capture was literally " floored with dead sol- 
diers." 

At El Caney one sees natives of almost pure In- 
dian blood, — descendants of the Cuban aborig- 
ines, — who still live in a primitive manner in huts 
of palm and thatch, cultivating tiny farms and 
gardens, ploughing the earth with crooked sticks 
and surrounded by a bounteous nature. 

Another pleasant trip is to Morro by land. 



SANTIAGO AND ITS ENVIRONS 145 

The ronte to Morro lies through a wild region 
and each turn and twist of the road develops 
new and beautiful vistas of enchanting scenery. 
A pass must be obtained before entering the 
fortress and armed with this the visitor may ram- 
ble through the old castle and will be shown every 
point of interest by a member of the small garri- 
son kept in the fort. Morro from the sea appears 
in good condition, strong and enduring, but in 
reality it is deserted, dismantled and crumbling 
through neglect. From its walls, however, one 
may obtain a splendid view of the winding har- 
bour and the city, the place where Hobson sank 
the Merrimac, and the guide will also point out 
Siboney and Daiquiri and the spots where Cer- 
vera's ships were sunk. 

Still another trip may be made to Boniato Sum- 
mit over the road known as the " Calzada San- 
tiago-San Luis," a splendid piece of engineering 
work carried out under General Wood's ad- 
ministration. From Santiago the road leads 
through San Vicente and Cuabitas, winding in' 
wonderful curves and grades up the mountain 
sides and crossing the Sierra Maestra range to 



146 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Dos Caminos and San Luis. From the lofty 
heights of the first mountain one looks down from 
an elevation of 1526 feet upon the city and bay 
of Santiago with its multicoloured houses, green 
palms, and sparkling blue waters, while beyond 
the grey Morro stands sharply out against the 
cerulean Caribbean sea. 

No visit to Santiago would be complete without 
a trip to Cobre and its copper mines. To reach 
Cobre, cross the harbour in the company's 
steamer — permission for the visit having been 
secured at the office in the town — and at the 
landing board a car for the mines. Cobre is some 
ten miles from Santiago and the track leads 
through wonderful scenery, across spider-web 
bridges and ever ascending until the mines are 
reached. The mines are very old and have been 
worked for centuries and are still very rich. Al- 
though the mines are interesting yet the greatest 
attraction at Cobre is the famous image of the 
Virgin known as " Nuestra Senora de la Caridad," 
which has been at Cobre for nearly three cen- 
turies. The history of this image is wonderfully 
fascinating and thousands of pilgrims annually 



SANTIAGO AND ITS ENVIRONS 147 

flock to Cobre on the festival of the Virgin on 
September 8. 

The image was originally carried by Alonzo de 
Ojeda who was wrecked on the southern coast of 
Cuba early in the sixteenth century. Ojeda was 
rescued by a local Indian chief or Cazique and in 
return for his life he presented the holy image to 
his saviour. The chief constructed a shrine for 
the image and he and his people worshipped before 
her with deep veneration, but one day she disap- 
peared and for a hundred years was lost to all the 
world. Early in the seventeenth century Indians 
at Nipe Bay found the image floating on a piece 
of board and carried it to the Indian village of 
Hato near Cobre. Three times the image left 
this place and was found upon the summit of the 
mountain and the Indians — convinced that it was 
her wish to remain on the mountain — built a 
shrine in 1631 and within this shrine the image 
stands to-day. The miraculous image is of wood 
about 16 inches high and is robed in gold and 
jewels valued at $10,000.00 and is mounted 
within tortoise-shell inlaid with gold and ivory. 
At one time the value of the Virgin's ornaments 



148 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

were much greater than now, but on a night in 
May, 1899, some sacrilegious thief broke into the 
sanctuary and robbed the shrine of all its votive 
offerings valued at over $25,000.00. 




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CHAPTER XI 

THE SOUTHERN COAST AND THE ISLE OF PINES 

The voyager sailing along the southern coast 
of Cuba westward from Cape Maysr sees but little 
that would hint of the wondrous vegetation and 
richness of the interior. Along the coast there 
are few forests, the shore rises from the waves in 
rocky terraces and the aspect is altogether barren 
and forbidding and lacking in harbours until 
Guantanamo is reached. This town is about 
forty miles east of Santiago and has a magnificent 
harbour about five miles wide by ten miles in 
length, large enough and deep enough to accom- 
modate our entire navy and well sheltered from 
all winds by the surrounding hills. 

Guantanamo. 

Guantanamo was first discovered by Spanish 
voyagers from Santo Domingo in 1511, but it was 
not used and soon became the resort of pirates 

149 



150 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

and buccaneers who laid in wait for the plate- 
ships and galleons sailing to and from Spain and 
the Indies. In 1741 Admiral Vernon made Guan- 
tanamo the base of operations of the British 
against Santiago; but his attempt to take that 
city in this manner was a failure owing to the 
distance to be travelled overland. This incident 
is, however, of interest to Americans, as the Mt. 
Vernon home of George Washington was named 
in honour of Admiral Vernon. With the British 
admiral was Lawrence Washington, brother of 
George, and who named the Potomac property in 
memory of his beloved Admiral Vernon. 

From the time of its occupation by the British, 
Guantanamo remained lonely and almost forgotten 
until in 1898 some six hundred American marines 
landed on the sand dunes at the harbour's mouth 
and put to flight the handful of Spanish troops 
who held the harbour. From that time on Guan- 
tanamo was used as a naval base by the Ameri- 
cans and to-day its only claim to distinction or 
interest lies in the fact that the bay is the United 
States naval station in Cuba. The city of Guan- 
tanamo is at some distance from the harbour, the 



THE SOUTHERN COAST 151 

port being Caimanera which is connected with 
Guantanamo by railway. From the town of 
Guantanamo another railway connects with the 
main line at San Luis, the route passing through 
a rich coffee- and spice-growing district with most 
picturesque scenery. 

Between Guantanamo and Santiago is the little 
town of Daiquiri, which became quite famous as 
the landing place of General Shafter's troops 
during the Spanish war but which otherwise has 
no interest or attractions and has now sunk into 
its former insignificance. t 

Passing the wonderful harbour of Santiago and 
continuing westward, the coast becomes bold and 
mountainous with the towering Sierra Maestra 
rising far into the sky and the mighty peak of 
Turquino with its cloud-draped summit 8,000 feet 
above the sea, while on every hand lesser peaks, 
serrated ridges and bold cliffs stretch as far as 
eye can see. It was on this wild and mountain- 
ous coast that Cervera's ill-fated ships were driven 
ashore or sunk by the American fleet and all the 
way to Surgidero, forty-five miles from Santiago, 
the scarred and battered hulks were long to be 



152 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

seen, — mute evidences of the end of Spanish do- 
minion in Cuba. 

Manzanillo. 

Rounding the bold promontory of Cape Cruz 
and sailing along the shore northward, Manzanillo 
is reached. Manzanillo is hot and far from 
healthy, but as it is the port through which the 
products of a vast and rich region are exported 
it is of great importance. It is connected directly 
with the town of Bayamo by railway and the lat- 
ter town is on the railway from Marti to San 
Luis so that the port is within easy access of a 
large extent of interior country. Manzanillo has 
a population of about 20,000 and ranks eighth 
in importance as regards imports and ninth in 
exports of all Cuban ports. The town has a 
charming little plaza embowered in royal palms; 
electric lights on its streets, and is in many ways 
up to date and modern. Among other things 
Manzanillo enjoys the distinction of having been 
the spot at which the last shot of the Spanish- 
American War was fired and, moreover, the town 
was saved from bombardment by the Americans 



THE SOUTHERN COAST 153 

only by news that the peace protocol was signed. 

Bayamo, some twenty-five miles inland from 
Manzanillo, was founded in 1514 and occupies a 
prominent place in the history of Cuba, for here 
is the birthplace of Tomas Estrada Palma, Cuba's 
first president, while near by, at the towns of Yara 
and Baire, the Cuban flag was first raised in the 
memorable insurrections of 1868 and 1895. 
Bayamo was taken by the Cubans in 1868 and 
recaptured the following year but not before it 
had been burned by its own inhabitants. In the 
last revolution numerous exciting battles took 
place near the town and here on one occasion 
Martinez Campos, the Spanish Captain General, 
narrowly escaped capture at the hands of Antonio 
Maceo. 

Bayamo has a population of about 5,000 inhab- 
itants, many of whom are very wealthy for the 
town is beautifully situated in a bend of the 
Bayamo River at the foot of the Sierra Maestra 
and in the heart of one of the richest agricultural 
districts of Cuba. Aside from the agricultural 
resources of the district there are valuable min- 



154 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

eral deposits in the neighbouring mountains; 
manganese, copper, iron and gold being found in 
many places. 

A few miles north of Manzanillo the great Cauto 
River empties into the Gulf of Guacanaybo. The 
Cauto is the largest and most important of Cuban 
rivers, its headwaters being crossed by the Cuban 
railway between Santiago and Alto Cedro, one 
hundred miles from its mouth. For nearly fifty 
miles the river is navigable by steamboats and the 
scenery along its shores is wonderfully beautiful 
and typically tropical with the heavy forests, tan- 
gled lianas, giant ferns, air-plants and orchids, 
while bright-plumaged birds, snowy egrets and 
myriads of tropical butterflies are seen at every 
turn. 

Beyond the Gulf of Guacanaybo the sea is dotted 
with innumerable tiny cays, — little mangrove- 
covered islets infested with mosquitoes and inhab- 
ited by spongers and fishermen; but wonderfully 
pretty from a distance and so attractive in ap- 
pearance that Columbus named them " Las Jar- 
dines de la Reina " (" The Gardens of the 
Queen"). Along the shore opposite these tiny 



THE SOUTHERN COAST 155 

isles there are few settlements and none of impor- 
tance, until Jucaro is reached. This is the 
southern terminal of the trocha, which the trav- 
eller saw at Ciego de Avila, and is also the south- 
ern terminus of the railway from San Fernando 
on the northern coast. The town is of little im- 
portance or interest and may well be passed by, 
as well as Tunas de Zaza, the port of Sancti 
Spiritus already described in a preceding chap- 
ter. 

Some twenty miles west of Tunas is Casilda, the 
port of Trinidad, which is the second oldest town 
in Cuba and which was founded in 1513. Trini- 
dad was settled by Caballeros from Spain, many 
of whom accompanied Don Hernando Cortes on 
his conquest of Mexico, among their number being 
Puertocarrero who made the first voyage from 
New to Old Spain. 

Trinidad is wonderfully healthy and marvel- 
lously rich and is strikingly situated on the side of 
a mountain known as " La Vigia " or " The Look- 
out." The country is mainly devoted to sugar 
and fruit culture and before the ravages of the 
war many millionaire planters had their homes 



156 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

here. A small American colony is engaged in 
fruit cultivation in the neighbourhood. 

Cienfuegos. 

Leaving Casilda astern and still sailing westward 
the beautiful bay of Jagua is reached with Cien- 
fuegos, the " City of a Hundred Fires," at its 
head. Should the traveller reach Cienfuegos at 
night he will no longer wonder how it ob- 
tained its name for everywhere, above the mead- 
ows and the fields, flash myriads of brilliant 
fireflies, a sight which caused Columbus to exclaim 
"Mira los Cienfuegos!" ("Behold the Hundred 
Fires!"). 

Passing between Point Sabanilla and its ancient 
Castillo de Jagua, one enters the magnificent bay 
— considered by mariners one of the finest in the 
world — with the town six miles from the entrance 
and clear-cut as a cameo against its background 
of vivid green. Across the entrance from the fort 
is Colorado Point, the cable landing, and made 
historic as the spot where the first American blood 
was shed in the Spanish war when the Americans 
cut the cables under a heavy rifle fire from the 
fort. 



T*"< ' ~~~ 




THE SOUTHERN COAST 157 

Cienfuegos is one of the best of Cuba's towns, 
although one of the youngest, as it was not 
founded until 1819. It was soon after destroyed 
by a hurricane but was rebuilt in 1825 and is 
to-day a healthy, pleasant and most attractive 
town with broad, straight streets, electric lights, 
and every convenience, and is second only to Ha- 
vana from a commercial standpoint and leads all 
other ports in the amount of sugar shipped. 

Cienfuegos has a magnificent plaza ornamented 
with flowers, shaded by laurel trees, embowered 
in palms and guarded by two marble lions, — a 
gift from Queen Isabella of Spain. In Cien- 
fuegos one may still see many of the true Cuban 
customs and on Sunday and Thursday evenings 
many senoras and seiioritas wearing graceful 
mantillas and rebosas and with their hair decked 
with brilliant flowers parade about the plaza 
while the band plays dreamy Spanish music be- 
neath the rustling palms. Facing the plaza on 
one side are the various municipal buildings, on 
another side is the great Terry Theatre, built by 
the heirs of Don Tomas Terry ? — one of the rich- 
est sugar planters in Cuba. This theatre cost 



158 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

over $150,000.00 and the receipts from it are 
donated to the schools. Also facing on the plaza 
is the grand cathedral, a splendid edifice contain- 
ing a Madonna robed in cloth of gold and royal 
purple and, like the plaza's lions, a gift from 
Queen Isabella. The city is built on a gentle 
slope and although the climate is rather hot the 
city's health is excellent, while the numerous villas 
on the borders of the bay are cool and attractive. 
Here live the wealthy residents in a setting of 
royal palms and tropic foliage with the wonder- 
ful, transparent, turquoise bay before them and 
the opalescent mountains bordering the rich green 
fields in the far distance. 

Many charming excursions may be taken about 
this fascinating city, such as the trip to Haban- 
illa Falls in its setting of tropical verdure; the 
trip to Damiju River and its bamboo-shaded 
shores ; or, nearer at hand, a visit to the old Cas- 
tillo de Jagua at the harbour's mouth, an ancient 
castle dating from the days of Philip the Fifth 
and surpassing all other Cuban forts in its quaint, 
angled walls, antique cannon, deep moat and draw- 
bridge. 



THE SOUTHERN COAST 159 

From Cienfuegos westward to the Gulf of 
Batabano there are no important towns while the 
shores are guarded by a network of reefs and keys. 

Batabano. 

On the north shore of this gulf lies the little 
town of Batabano, a village on stilts and the " Lit- 
tle Venice " of Cuba with canals in lieu of streets 
and mainly inhabited by spongers and fishermen 
and famous for its turtles and as the port from 
which steamers sail for the Isle of Pines across 
the gulf to the south. Batabano has about 7,000 
inhabitants and is pretty and peculiar, but it is 
chiefly of interest as being the site of the original 
" Havana " settled in 1515 but which was later 
removed to its present location in 1519. 

The Isle of Pines is but fifty miles from Bata- 
bano and separated by the broad gulf dotted with 
cays, its waters as clear as crystal and so shallow 
that the multicoloured bottom, the living coral, 
the bright-hued fish and the countless forms of 
marine life may be plainly seen. From Batabano 
to the Isle of Pines is a charming sail over a won- 
derful sea and it can be made so easily, so cheaply 



160 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

and so quickly that every visitor to Cuba should 
make the trip. The steamer sails three times 
weekly and passengers leaving Havana at 6:10 
p.m. arrive at Nueva Gerona the following morn- 
ing. It is rather unfortunate that this trip is 
made after dark but even at night it is delightful, 
especially if moonlight. 

The Isle of Pines was discovered by Columbus 
and named " Evangelista," the present name hav- 
ing been bestowed later on account of the exten- 
sive pine forests that cover a large part of the 
island. It was considered practically worthless 
by the Spaniards, who realised the superior ad- 
vantages and resources of Cuba, and the little isle 
soon became the resort of pirates, buccaneers and 
smugglers who haunted its bays, swamps and 
lagoons, while convicts sent to the island by the 
Spaniards added to this choice assortment of in- 
habitants. 

At the close of the Spanish-American War much 
of the land was purchased by Americans who as- 
sumed that the island would become an American 
possession. Although disappointed in this, they 
continued to colonize and cultivate the island and 



THE SOUTHERN COAST 161 

to-day large areas have been reclaimed, cultivated 
and made to " blossom like the rose " with fruit 
orchards, vegetable farms and flower gardens. 

In the towns and settlements many social and 
other clubs have been formed, fairs and exposi- 
tions are held at frequent intervals, a cannery has 
been built, canoes and launches dot the rivers and 
bays, there are ice plants, furniture factories, 
banks, schools, churches, newspapers and lumber 
mills and in its own small way the island is up-to- 
date, prosperous and a credit to its inhabitants. 

For the sportsman the Isle of Pines has many at- 
tractions for the waters of the coast and rivers 
abound in fish, including tarpon, red-snappers, 
parrot-fish, kingfish, barracua, bonito, Spanish 
mackerel, pompano, groupers, etc. Quail, pig- 
eons and doves are common in the forests and 
brush, shore birds and ducks are found in the 
swamps, rivers and lagoons, while alligators are 
abundant in the swamps and bayous. 

The Isle of Pines is small, with an area of some 
500,000 acres, over one-fourth of which is low, 
worthless swamp, the rest being divided between 
high mountains, valleys and plains. The soil is 



162 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

thin and only in local, comparatively small areas 
is the earth fertile. Aside from its agricultural 
possibilities there are numerous mineral springs, 
chiefly of magnesia, and much of this water is 
bottled and sold in large quantities in Cuba. 
There are also quarries of marble in the hills and 
forests of mahogany, pine, cedar and other woods, 
much of which is unavailably situated in the moun- 
tain districts. 

The principal town is Nueva Gerona at the 
mouth of a river, while Columbia on the northeast 
coast, Las Nuevas on the northwest, Santa Fe 
seventeen miles inland and McKinley are the other 
important settlements. Excellent highways con- 
nect the various towns and colonies, the automo- 
bile roads totalling nearly 200 miles, with as many 
more miles of by-roads, many of which are adapted 
to auto traffic. 

The island has a population of between 5,000 
and 6,000 inhabitants, nearly half of whom are 
Americans. 

The Isle of Pines has been widely advertised and 
immoderately praised and if one were to believe 
all that is said of it it would indeed be a Paradise 



THE SOUTHERN COAST 163 

on earth, a veritable mine of wealth for all who 
journeyed there and a Garden of Eden wherein 
the settler could live in comfort, luxury and ease 
forever with scarce an effort on his own part. 

In reality, the island is beautiful in its way, with 
a splendid, healthy climate, wonderfully fine sea 
bathing, marvellously good roads, enchanting 
scenery and splendid fishing. There are large and 
modern hotels, numerous automobiles and many 
charming American homes on the island and many 
tourists and others find it an ideal winter resort. 
A great deal has been done in agriculture and 
extensive groves of citrus-fruits, acres of pine- 
apples and large truck farms may be seen and in 
many ways the island has prospered and pro- 
gressed with wonderful rapidity. On the other 
hand, the island has been grossly overestimated 
and overadvertised and its possibilities, resources 
and fertility have been greatly exaggerated by 
unscrupulous land-sharks and promoters. 

Nearly one-third of the island is worthless, im- 
penetrable swamp and useless, flinty, rocky, moun- 
tainous land; much of the remainder is barren, 
sandy, pine land with thin soil while other portions 



164 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

are dry and parched during portions of the year 
and are flooded during the rainy season. 

There is no question that some land in the Isle 
of Pines is good ; that fruits, vegetables and other 
products can be raised profitably and that many 
settlers have made, and are making, money, but 
such land and such conditions are not typical of 
the whole island. 

Even the most optimistic and enthusiastic set- 
tlers and colonists admit that the land must be 
fertilised, that the shipping facilities are poor 
and that labour is scarce and expensive. 

Fruit shipped from the island must be handled 
repeatedly before it is at last placed aboard the 
ships for the States and as yet there has not been 
enough produced to warrant a steady market or 
a line of ships to the island. It is indeed difficult 
to see wherein the island has any advantages or 
attractions over Cuba or Porto Rico, other than 
the fact that it is practically an American colony 
and has a pleasant social life. 

In Cuba the good lands require no fertiliser 
whatever; the fruit grower can place his products 
in New York within four days with but one or two 



THE SOUTHERN COAST 165 

handlings; steamers sail two or three times a 
week and labour is abundant, cheap and efficient. 
Deep, rich, Cuban land, with every transportation 
facility can be purchased for what it costs to fer- 
tilise the thin, sandy soil of the Isle of Pines and 
in many of the rural Cuban districts there are 
large colonies of American families. Even in 
Porto Rico, where land is high in price, there are 
numerous advantages unknown in the Isle of Pines 
and in that island the colonist has the great ad- 
vantage of being under the American flag and 
free from all duties or import taxes on his goods 
brought from the United States. 

Many Americans have gone to the Isle of Pines 
filled with rosy hopes ; have sold their all to invest 
in this new El Dorado ; have spent their last cent 
to purchase lots by correspondence or through 
agents, only to find the " lots " worthless, the land 
mere sand barrens or flooded swamps and to learn 
too late that they have been duped, swindled and 
ruined. Scores of these unfortunates may be 
found in Cuba, Porto Rico and the neighbouring 
islands where many are working at a mere pit- 
tance to save enough to enable them to return to 



166 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

the States. Others, more fortunate or more 
thrifty — with enough cash remaining to pay 
their passage home — may be met on nearly every 
north-bound steamer; while still others — * taking 
a cue from the promoters and land-sharks — have 
disposed of their worthless holdings to other gulli- 
ble investors and have settled in more promising 
lands. 

On the other hand, many Americans have secured 
good land, have prospered and have done well and 
it would be manifestly unfair and untrue to paint 
all the land companies as sharpers, all the coloni- 
sation schemes as swindles, all the land as worth- 
less, or all the enterprises as bubbles. There is 
much good in the Isle of Pines and much to be 
said in its favour, but it is no " get-rich-quick " 
proposition and foolish indeed is he who buys land 
he has not seen or who burns his bridges behind 
him and emigrates to a new land until he knows 
the truth of its resources, conditions and future 
at first hand. 



CHAPTER XII 

MATANZAS AND OTHER NORTHERN PORTS 

Or all the northern ports of Cuba, Matanzas is 
probably the best known. Lying but sixty-three 
miles from Havana and readily accessible by train, 
it has become a favourite place for excursions and 
a Mecca for all travellers to the Island. 

With its beautiful situation, its wonderful caves, 
its tropical verdure, its Hermitage and its quaint, 
foreign aspect, Matanzas possesses much that is 
fascinating and interesting to the traveller to 
Cuba's shores. Matanzas is served by four trains 
daily to and from Havana and the trip leads 
through extensive sugar-cane fields which are 
among the most productive in Cuba, and near 
Aguacate the great Rosario Mill is passed. Be- 
yond Aguacate the country becomes more hilly 
and attractive and near Ceiba Mocha the road 
runs through a deep cutting clothed with dense 
tropical foliage, air plants, orchids $nd maiden- 



163 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

hair ferns, from which it emerges upon a fertile 
valley covered with extensive orange orchards. 

From here the railway passes through the San 
'Juan valley with smooth green hills on either hand 
and with the lofty, solitary peak of '* Pan " tow- 
ering for a thousand feet above Matanzas in the 
distance. If the tourist approaches Matanzas 
from the sea the effect will be even more attrac- 
tive. Beyond the turquoise water of the shore- 
line, hills stretch inland to the mighty "Pan de 
Matanzas," and as the vessel draws near forts, 
lighthouses and castles are seen ; each item of the 
scenery unfolding, each detail becoming more dis- 
tinct, as the visitor approaches, until at last the 
ship comes to anchor before the pretty town 
nestling among its surrounding hills. Matanzas 
is low-lying, its highest point being scarce 100 
feet above the sea, and is divided into three dis- 
tinct portions, each part being known by a dif- 
ferent name and separated by the San Juan 
and Yumuri Rivers. The part between the two 
streams is called the " Old Town," that on the 
northern bank of the Yumuri is " Versailles " and 
that on the south bank of the San Juan is known 



MATANZAS AND OTHER PORTS 169 

as " Pueblo Nuevo " or " New Town." Matanzas 
has a charming central park or "Plaza de 
Libertad," embowered in palms, flowers and foli- 
age and about this plaza are many of the most 
important and noteworthy buildings, while the 
residences are mainly in the Versailles section. 
On the southern side of the plaza is the Governor's 
Palace, while the Cuban Club, the Spanish Club 
and the Gran Hotel are on other sides of the 
square. 

Versailles is also interesting, with its beautiful 
marble houses and by crossing the Concordia 
Bridge over the Yumuri and driving to the Paseo 
Marti a good idea of the town may be obtained. 
The Paseo is a wide street or avenue with little 
parks in the centre — much like the Prado of 
Havana — and at either end there is a noteworthy 
monument. At the eastern end is a statue of 
Ferdinand II and at the western end a monument 
to sixty-three Cuban patriots who were executed 
by the Spaniards near the spot. The Paseo af- 
fords a splendid view of the bay and harbour and 
leads to the military road to Fort San Severino, 
a spot made famous as the scene of the death of 



170 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

the " immortal mule," the only casualty resulting 
from the bombardment of Matanzas by Sampson's 
guns in 1898. 

To reach the New Town one must cross the San 
Juan River over Belen Bridge and here the visitor 
will find magnificent private residences of the 
wealthy inhabitants of Matanzas — veritable pal- 
aces tinted in all the colours of the rainbow and 
with broad porticoes, marble pillars, spacious 
patios and beautiful gardens. 

Although Matanzas itself is quaint, attractive 
and beautiful, it is chiefly notable as being close 
to the Yumuri Valley and the Caves of Bellamar. 

The Yumuri Valley has been called the " Vale of 
Paradise " and its praises have been sung and its 
beauties described more often than any other spot 
in Cuba. As a matter of fact, the valley is beau- 
tiful — wonderfully beautiful — but there are 
many other vales as lovely, much other scenery 
as grand and many valleys far larger, more fer- 
tile and more verdant elsewhere in the glorious 
tropics. 

The Vega Real in San Domingo is larger, fairer 
and more luxurious ; the Cayey and Caguas Va 5 lr 



MATANZAS AND OTHER PORTS 171 

leys and various other valleys in Porto Rico are 
grander and girt with loftier mountains; while 
the Zaza Valley in Cuba is in many ways the equal, 
if not the superior, of the Yumuri. The famous 
valley is seen at its best from the crest of Cumbre 
Hill immediately above Matanzas and which is 
crowned by the chapel of Montserrate,— although 
an almost equally fine view may be had from the 
hill opposite which is reached through the Ver- 
sailles quarter. The Yumuri is a deep basin-like 
vale enclosed within steep, verdure-clad hills and 
with a silvery stream meandering among the 
greenery in the centre, while on every hand — on 
slopes and levels — grow countless, graceful, 
royal palms — mystic symbols of the Tropics — 
their white, ivory-smooth stems standing boldly 
out against the background of green, their plumed 
tops waving gently in the breeze, stately, dignified 
and beautiful. 

The Hermitage of Montserrate upon its lofty 
peak is in itself of interest and although of recent 
date (built in 1870), it is venerated as a sacred 
shrine, many miracles having been credited to 
" Our Lady of Montserrate." Within the chapel 



172 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

are many votive offerings and from far and near 
pilgrims journey to the shrine, some hobbling on 
crutches or painfully climbing the heights with 
the aid of canes and help of friends, to return 
sound in limb and walking unaided and alone, their 
canes and crutches cast aside or left as testi- 
monials to the miraculous powers of the Lady of 
Montserrate. 

No less famous than the Yumuri Valley are the 
Caves of Bellamar in a hill two miles southeast of 
Matanzas. These wonderful caverns were first 
discovered by accident ; a Chinese labourer having 
lost his crowbar through a hidden crevice as he 
was loosening the earth. 

The caves are covered by a plateau as level as a 
floor and with no external sign of the caverns 
underneath. The caves are entered through a 
small building, the visitor passing down a broad 
stairway cut in the solid rock and leading directly 
down to an enormous subterranean gallery. The 
caverns are illuminated by electric lights and the 
effect of these, glimmering and glinting upon the 
innumerable stalactites, is most beautiful and 
wonderful. The caverns are known to extend for 



MATANZAS AND OTHER PORTS 173 

four miles and are in places one hundred feet or 
more in depth. They are not as large nor as 
grand as the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky or the 
well-known Luray Cavern, yet they are far more 
beautiful in their formation and the domed roofs, 
hung with stalactites, the huge columnar forma- 
tions reaching from floor to ceiling and the 
sparkling crystalline character of the " drip- 
stone " excel anything to be found in our Ameri- 
can caves. There are numerous chambers, halls, 
passages and galleries with underground streams, 
deep chasms and bridges, while the finest and larg- 
est chamber of all is the so-called Gothic Temple 
nearly 250 feet in length by 75 feet in width. 

Cardenas. 

Travelling eastward from Matanzas the next 
important port is Cardenas, some thirty miles 
from Matanzas and connected with Havana, 100 
miles distant, by the United Railways. Cardenas 
is a modern, thriving city and is curiously sup- 
plied with water by two underground rivers. The 
city lies on a broad, shallow bay and large vessels 
are obliged to anchor several miles from shore. 
The town boasts of a fine cathedral, broad, well- 



174 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

kept streets and the usual plaza with a statue of 
Columbus which was a gift to Cardenas from 
Queen Isabella II. 

To American visitors Cardenas will Be of in- 
terest as having been the scene of a brief but fatal 
engagement during the war with Spain when on 
May 11, 1898, Ensign Bagley and four seamen 
lost their lives — the first Americans to be killed 
during the war. 

A few miles north of the town is one of the 
most attractive seaside resorts in Cuba and known 
as the Varadero, with lovely beaches extending 
for several miles. This is the favourite summer 
resort for the leading families of Cardenas and 
the vicinity and there are many modern and at- 
tractive villas and summer homes built along the 
shore. 

Sagua la Grande. 

Some seventy miles east of Cardenas is the 
town of Sagua la Grande, a place of little interest 
to the tourist but of great commercial value. 
Sagua la Grande is, however, one of the most ad- 
vanced towns in Cuba and is on a river of the same 
name, navigable for nearly twenty miles, and is 



MATANZAS AND OTHER PORTS 175 

also on the line of the Cuban Central Railways. 
The port of Sagua is known as Concha and is an 
extremely picturesque town partially built on piles 
like Batabano and is the " farthest north " town 
in Cuba. The little port is a favourite summer 
resort for people from Sagua and the interior and 
is famous for its crabs, lobsters, oysters and the 
excellent fishing in the surrounding waters. Off 
the shore are numerous little cays or islets, — each 
lovely as a jewel set in turquoise, — and on one of 
these, known as Cayo Christ o\ are the summer 
homes of the Cuban President and members of his 
cabinet. 

Caibarien. 

Still travelling eastward along Cuba's northern 
shores one comes to Caibarien, an important port 
and the shipping point for vast quantities of 
sugar and tobacco. From Caibarien both a nar- 
row and a broad gauge railway run to Placetas 
through beautiful scenery and amid tobacco fields, 
banana groves, sugar-cane fields and with glimpses 
of great sugar mills at frequent intervals. 
Placetas enjoys the distinction of being the high- 
est city above sea-level in Cuba and from this 



176 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

town a trip of three miles carries the traveller to 
Placetas del Sur where the branch road joins the 
main line of the Cuba Railway. 

Beyond Caibarien numerous snug little har- 
bours are passed while seaward are hundreds of 
cays and reefs, formerly the haunt of pirates and 
freebooters, but now the dwelling-place of fisher- 
men and spongers. Along this well-protected 
coast are several small ports, among them San 
Fernando, the northern end of the railway that 
crosses the Island from Jucaro on the south and 
also the northern terminal of the once-famous 
trocha. 

Nuevitas is the next important port ; a very old 
town situated on a long, irregular, shallow bay, — 
a veritable sea river, — and so shoal that ships an- 
chor in the lower bay while the passengers are 
transferred to the shore in tenders or tugs. 
Nuevitas is the terminal of the Puerto Principe 
& Nuevitas Railroad, which was one of the first 
railroads built in Cuba and which connects 
Camagiiey with Nuevitas, its shipping port. 

Nuevitas is notably hot, it is pre-eminently a 



MATANZAS AND OTHER PORTS 177 

shipping port and nothing but a shipping port, 
and it is dirty and smells abominably of fish, 
sponges and raw sugar, — a nauseating combina- 
tion that is hard to beat. 

La Gloria. 

To Americans, Nuevitas is mainly of interest as 
being the nearest port to La Gloria, the pioneer 
American colony in Cuba, and one of the largest 
and most prosperous to-day. La Gloria was laid 
out in 1899 and many of the other colonies in 
Cuba are offshoots from this beautifully situated 
parent colony. Many visitors have described La 
Gloria as " a bit of the United States transplanted 
on Cuban Soil," and in reality the plan of the 
town is distinctly American while over ninety per 
cent, of the inhabitants are English-speaking 
people. There are wide streets intersecting at 
right angles, a large park in the centre of the city, 
an ample school and churches of the Methodist 
Episcopal and Episcopal denominations. There 
is an excellent macadam boulevard leading from 
the settlement to Port Viaro, a distance of about 
five miles, and from the port a regular service is 



178 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

maintained by the La Gloria Transportation Com- 
pany, with sailings to and from Nuevitas three 
times a week. 

La Gloria is situated in the Cubitas Valley, one 
of the most beautiful and fertile sections of Cuba, 
and grape fruits, oranges, pineapples, garden 
vegetables and various other products are 
raised. 

La Gloria is really the centre of eight or ten 
colonisation enterprises in the Cubitas district of 
Camagiiey Province, the population of the town 
being about 1,000, with some 400 more inhabit- 
ants in the near-by colonies. 

A few years ago many of the excellent pouch- 
shaped harbours on Cuba's northern coast were 
all but unknown and the little ports or towns 
were desolate, forsaken places. To-day, with the 
influx of capital, increasing number of colonists 
and ranches and the shipping of fruit, sugar and 
other products from the interior, many of these 
small sea-coast towns have grown rapidly into 
important ports. 

Among these may be mentioned Vita, Manati, 
Banes and Puerto Padre, the latter being the 



MATANZAS AND OTHER PORTS 179 

shipping port of the largest sugar mill in the 
world, — the Chaparra mill, — whose immense 
docks are on the left of the harbour, the bay being 
too shallow to allow steamships to reach the town 
of Puerto Padre. 

Vita is the shipping port of the sugar estate 
of Santa Lucia, which has a private railway of its 
own leading to a pier where the ships are loaded. 
Vita's harbour is completely landlocked and has 
a peculiar winding entrance with deep water, and 
the ship, when entering, makes numerous abrupt 
turns and twists and when at last it is moored to 
the dock no one would imagine that there was any 
entrance whatever to the harbour, the steamer 
seeming to float on a lake or inland lagoon. 

Gibara, the terminal of a branch line from Caco- 
cum on the Cuba Central Railway, is an interest- 
ing, quaint and very ancient Spanish town,— one 
of the few towns that have not kept up with the 
march of modern progress and almost as dreamy, 
old-fashioned and oriental as before the Spanish 
war. 

The town lies against a steep hill stretching 
crescent-shaped along the bay and is surrounded 



180 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

by a wall fortified with odd block-houses which 
were designed to protect the town from insur- 
gents. Seen from the sea, Gibara appears like a 
scene from a comic opera or a bright-hued pastel 
with its charming villas painted in pink, blue, 
green, lavender, and yellow, with red-tiled roofs 
and behind them all the great cream-coloured 
cathedral with its domes and towers set off by 
nodding palms and clumps of verdure. 

Although Gibara is charming in its quaintness 
and old-world appearance, it is of greatest interest 
as being the first point in Cuba visited by Colum- 
bus who entered the harbour in 1492. In his 
journal the Admiral mentions the three striking 
landfalls known as the Silla (saddle), the Pan 
(sugar loaf), and the Tabla (table), and these 
three hills may be seen by the traveller approach- 
ing Gibara to-day, — their lower slopes covered 
with verdure but their summits steep, bare, and 
reflecting the dazzling sunset light until they seem 
like mountains of blazing, molten metal. 

Holguin. 

From Gibara the railway leads to Holguin, a 
town of about 9,000 inhabitants, in a dry but f er- 




o 

■$ 

o 



MATANZAS AND OTHER PORTS 181 

tile district wherein many American and Canadian 
fruit growers have settled. Near Holguin is the 
most important gold mine in Cuba and from the 
town the visitor may easily make a trip to the 
vast estates of the Chaparra Sugar Company. 
Holguin has taken a noteworthy part in Cuba's 
wars for independence and General Calixto Gar- 
cia was born in the town. During the Spanish 
occupancy of the Island the Spanish troops were 
quartered for acclimatisation at this place and 
from here General Prado marched forth with 
5,000 troops for the relief of Santiago. After 
the Spaniards had been driven from Holguin there 
were over 3,000 cases of smallpox in the city 
and months were required to cleanse the houses 
and streets of the accumulated filth left by the 
thousands of troops who had occupied the town. 

Holguin is as brightly coloured as an oriental 
city and its variously tinted, old-fashioned houses, 
narrow streets, charming, ancient church of San 
Jose and three plazas are all interesting spots and 
well worth a visit. 

Nipe Bay, nearly due north from Santiago, is 
one of the largest and finest harbours in Cuba and 



182 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

compares favourably with the best harbours of the 
world. The harbour proper is about fifteen miles 
in length by eight miles in width, with a depth in 
mid-channel of 800 feet and is large enough to 
float the navies of the world. At the entrance to 
the harbour, on the left, is Saetia where there are 
large fruit and pineapple plantations. Farther 
up the bay is Preston, owned by the United Fruit 
Company and the site of an immense sugar mill, 
while to the east is Felton, the shipping port for 
the iron mines back in the hills. 

Antilla. 

The most important town of all, however, is 
Antilla, at the western side of the bay; a great 
busy shipping port, the terminal of the Antilla 
branch of the Cuba Central Railway and the 
fourth seaport of Cuba in exports and imports. 
Here there are extensive wharves, commodious 
docks and huge warehouses with molasses tanks 
with a capacity of over a million and a half gal- 
lons. At Antilla and around Nipe Bay is a land- 
locked expanse of water with an area of 150 
square miles and here is being carried on the 
greatest and most rapid development work in all 



MATANZAS AND OTHER PORTS 183 

Cuba. At Antilla the Cuba Railway Company is 
building up a great port. At Saetia the Dumois 
Nipe Company is establishing the largest fruit 
plantations on the Island. At Preston across the 
bay the United Fruit Company is operating one 
of the largest of Cuban sugar mills, and at Felton 
the Spanish-American Iron Company has built 
extensive works for the shipment of ore from the 
stupendous deposits in the vicinity, which are es- 
timated to contain more than three billion tons ! 

A few short years ago Nipe Bay was known 
only to the smuggler, the fisherman and the fili- 
buster; to-day it is rapidly becoming the great- 
est harbour and the most prosperous town on the 
Island with the exception of Havana. Here, like 
mushrooms, have sprung up flourishing towns; 
here come great steamships from every port of 
America and here, in a modern, sanitary, up-to- 
date town is a great modern hotel; while inland, 
and tapped by the railway, are vast forests of 
cabinet woods, rich fruit and cane lands, moun- 
tains of valuable ores and untold natural re- 
sources. 



184 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Baracoa. 

Eastward from this busy, growing settlement 
the country is thinly settled — scarcely touched 
by the hand of man and abounding in great forests 
with wonderful scenery and vast resources and 
extending from Antilla to Cape Maysi. In this 
district, far from other important cities, lies 
Baracoa, the most easterly of Cuba's ports, with 
its circular, landlocked harbour and the great 
Yunque Mountain towering for 2000 feet above 
the little town. Baracoa was discovered by Co- 
lumbus in 1492 and he was so entranced with its 
natural beauty that he wrote " A thousand 
tongues would not suffice to describe the things 
I saw here of novelty and beauty, for it was all 
like a scene of enchantment." 

Here, attracted by the descriptions of the dis- 
coverer, came Diego Velasquez and here he 
founded the first settlement in Cuba in 1511. The 
fort built in those far-off times still stands above 
the town which is now quite modern and busy, de- 
spite its isolated situation. The stores are well 
stocked, the streets are clean, the people are pros- 
perous and many ships come and go and carry 



MATANZAS AND OTHER PORTS 185 

away the tons of cocoanuts and countless thou- 
sands of bunches of bananas which are grown on 
the great plantations in the neighbourhood. 
Back from the shore deep valleys run far into the 
hills and from shore to hilltops, along the beaches 
and everywhere in the town are groves of feathery 
cocoa palms. Back in the hills and valleys are 
the banana plantations and as much of the coun- 
try is far too rough and precipitous for roads, 
great steel cables have been stretched from the 
hilltops to the shore and down these are slid the 
bananas cut for shipment. 

Baracoa is an interesting town, a fascinating 
locality for the explorer, hunter or naturalist, and 
a town well worth visiting, even though the ac- 
commodations are not of the best and railroad 
connections do not exist. It was the first town 
founded in Cuba, the oldest on the Island and the 
most isolated and least-visited to-day. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE HIGHROADS OF CUBA 

In the past one of the greatest obstacles in the 
way of commercial, agricultural and industrial 
progress in Cuba was the lack of good roads. 
Even very old maps of the Island are covered with 
a maze of lines which were supposed to represent 
roads, but in reality most of these were merely 
trails or rights of way, many of which were abso- 
lutely impassable for wheeled vehicles at any sea- 
son and which were so deep with mud and water 
during the rainy season that even a pack -mule or 
a riding-bull would find difficulty in traversing 
them. This absence of good roads is typical of 
many of the West Indies and especially of Spanish 
possessions and in San Domingo much of the lack 
of development is due to the incomparably bad 
condition of the so-called highways. Porto Rico 
was a notable exception and the splendid roads, 

and particularly the great military road, across 
186 



THE HIGHROADS OF CUBA 187 

the island, have done much towards making that 
little island a perfect garden spot. 

For many years the Cubans have felt the need of 
highways and at every opportunity petitions were 
made for better roads. Each time plans were 
drawn and approved and appropriations made and 
each time the plans were promptly pigeonholed 
and the appropriations pocketed by the Spanish 
officials. 

Even when the Cuban Congress came into being 
the proposition for a system of improved roads 
was met with the same reception and as late as 
October, 1906, there were less than 500 miles of 
macadamized road in the entire island, with but 90 
miles of the whole in the western province of Pinar 
del Rio, while the best roads of all were those con- 
structed by the Americans in Santiago Province 
— a district that probably required roads less 
than any other part of the entire Island. 

Pinar del Rio was particularly unfortunate, for 
with its limited railway facilities and the absence 
of good ports nearly all the products of the prov- 
ince had to be hauled or packed to market over 
the most abominable trails imaginable. In a great 



188 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

many localities it was impossible to use wheeled 
vehicles at any time and where carts could be used 
it was frequently necessary to use four to ten oxen 
to haul the load which on a good road could easily 
be drawn by a pair of horses or mules. 

Meanwhile the Island's finances were improving 
and in the National Treasury a large surplus was 
constantly being increased by the many Cuban 
sources of revenue and at last the country awoke 
to the fact that this surplus could not be used to 
better advantage than in the construction of good 
and sufficient highroads. 

The department of public works in 1906 drew 
up a general plan for a system of roads under the 
adviser, Col. W. M. Black, and the plans were at 
once approved and ordered put into execution by 
Governor Magoon. Once started, the work was 
continued with little interruption through the vari- 
ous administrations and yearly the mileage of good 
highroads is being increased. Unfortunately a 
great deal of money has been wasted under some 
of Cuba's administrations and time and again the 
road work has been curtailed; but surely, even if 



THE HIGHROADS OF CUBA 189 

slowly, it is going on and in time the Island will 
be as well equipped with good roads as neighbour- 
ing Porto Rico or any other country. 

In the construction of roads in the Tropics many 
difficulties must be met and overcome which do not 
exist in the North and if roads are to be built to 
last they must be constructed of the best possible 
materials and with the most painstaking care upon 
a foundation of solid Telford macadam, with am- 
ple drainage, high crowns and numerous culverts, 
bridges, etc. 

The new Cuban roads are uniformly sixteen feet 
in width, with a right of way of fifty feet, with 
concrete culverts, retaining walls and substantial 
bridges. Wherever there is danger of flooding, 
ditches have been dug to drain the surrounding 
land and at intervals of six to eight kilometres 
neat little houses have been constructed for the use 
of employes whose duty it is to keep a certain 
section of the road under constant supervision and 
care. In the yards of these houses trees are 
grown, to be transplanted later along the road- 
side, a Spanish custom which makes travel over the 



190 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

roads a pleasure and delight when the leafy can- 
opy of laurels and poincianas spreads overhead 
from side to side of the highway. 

The plan of roads adopted includes a main high- 
way running from east to west from Santiago to 
Los Arroyos de Mantua, a route being followed 
as nearly through the centre of the Island as pos- 
sible and connecting the various larger and more 
important cities and towns, and with branch roads 
extending north and south to at least one harbour 
or port on each coast in every one of the six prov- 
inces — a plan which has been followed out abso- 
lutely in Pinar del Rio. 

Although it was planned to distribute the road 
work proportionately among the various provinces 
and to begin work in each at the same time, yet 
numerous obstacles arising made it incumbent to 
concentrate the work on some one province first. 
As Pinar del Rio seemed the most in need of high- 
ways and was in some ways the most important, 
the good road work was commenced in this west- 
ern province in May, 1907. 

Theoretically there was a road westward from 
San Cristobal and, likewise theoretically, it passed 



THE HIGHROADS OF CUBA 191 

through the principal towns on the southern side, 
following the natural route of travel among the 
towns at the foot of the Organos Mountains. As 
a matter of fact this road was a series of bog-holes 
interrupted by streams which in the rainy season 
became roaring torrents and were absolutely im- 
passable. Moreover, it ran north instead of south 
of several towns, but in this respect the towns 
and not the road were to blame, for when the 
towns were rebuilt — after being burnt by Maceo 
during the insurrection — they moved to new sites 
alongside the western railway line. 

The new road, following the survey of the old, 
misses these moved towns and crosses the old sites, 
but in order to connect them with the highway, 
branch roads extend out like feelers in search of 
the elusive towns. As an example of the manner 
in which these Cuban towns have flitted hither and 
thither and have changed places with one another 
and altered in importance, Santa Cruz may be 
mentioned. Before the war Santa Cruz was a 
town, while Taco Taco was its railway station. 
To-day, on the other hand, Taco Taco is the town 
and Santa Cruz is merely a crossroads, littered 



192 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

with the debris of its destruction. Here the new 
highroad passes through what was formerly the 
main street of the town — and in order to reach 
the new town of Taco Taco a branch road two kilo- 
metres in length runs down to the railway. Other 
branches run to Palacios and San Diego while a 
longer offshoot connects the American settlement 
of Herradura on the railway with the main high- 
way. In one or two instances the towns clung to 
their original locations, despite the rigours of war, 
and in such cases, as at Consolacion, the main road 
passes through the towns and branches are con- 
structed to the railway station some distance 
away. 

From Consolacion to Pinar del Rio the new road 
follows partly along the old track and partly 
through new country, but passes through no towns 
of importance. At Pinar del Rio the highway 
swerves northwest, continuing through the Ca- 
bezas, Sumidero, San Carlos and Luis Lazo dis- 
tricts and hence back to Guane, where it turns 
north and continues to Montezuelo and eventually 
to Mantua and Los Arroyos, a shipping port on 
the western coast. 



THE HIGHROADS OF CUBA 193 

To the traveller accustomed to the magnificent 
scenery of South America, Central America, Mex- 
ico or Porto Rico, the main road from Havana to 
Pinar del Rio is disappointing. The country is 
interesting, .but is decidedly lacking in the varied 
scenery and picturesqueness which one expects in 
the Tropics and which may be seen in many other 
portions of Cuba. The tourist over this road is 
impressed with the fertility of the land, the thor- 
ough cultivation, the pineapple, orange, cane and 
tobacco fields and the utility of the highroad rather 
than with the beauty of the landscape, but beyond 
Pinar del Rio there are many very attractive se- 
tions of country. From Pinar del Rio towards 
Luis Lasso the road leads to the hills which extend 
between Pinar del Rio, Cerro and Isabel Maria and 
at kilometre 10 there is a grade of 6 per cent., 
which is the maximum permitted on the Cuban 
roads, and which carries the road to an elevation 
of 800 feet above the sea. At this point the trav- 
eller may enjoy a broad view of the great undu- 
lating plain to the south, sweeping onward to the 
shimmering blue of the Caribbean, with the city of 
Pinar del Rio in the foreground and to the north- 



194 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

west the purple ridges of the Organo Mountains. 

Between kilometre posts 10 and 18 is the heavi- 
est work attempted on any Cuban highway and in 
building these eight kilometres of road over half a 
million cubic feet of earth and rock was removed, 
cut and filled. Here hills have been levelled, gul- 
lies built up, summits torn away and on every hand 
the countryside is rent, scarred, and torn with the 
struggle between man and nature, while over all 
the luxuriant vegetation of the Tropics is weaving 
its coat of green and with riotous profusion is 
striving to hide the mute testimonials of man's tri- 
umph over the eternal hills. 

Beyond this spot the road traverses the beauti- 
ful valleys of Isabel Maria, Cabezas, Sumidero, 
Luis Lazo and San Carlos with the little towns 
nestling in the midst of the fertile, flat-bottomed, 
basin-like depressions surrounded by limestone 
walls covered with vines, trees, shrubbery and tow- 
ering palms. Upon the little plains are groves 
and clumps of stately royal palms and here 
and there the odd mogotes, monoliths of limestone, 
stand upright like gigantic monuments from the 
level surface of the lowlands. In every available 



THE HIGHROADS OF CUBA 195 

spot are patches of tobacco ; in the valleys, on the 
hillsides and even on the mountain-tops the pre- 
cious weed may be seen, and in many places the 
crop is raised in situations so inaccessible and so 
rugged that the owners are obliged to ascend and 
descend by means of ropes. It is from this wild 
region, from these little isolated valleys, from these 
weird, uncanny surroundings, that the cream of 
the far-famed Vuelta Aba jo tobacco is obtained, 
and having seen the country, the methods used in 
its production, and the difficulties to be overcome, 
one no longer marvels at the high cost of this 
justly-celebrated tobacco. 

From Guane the highroad turns to the north 
and then west toward Arroyo, passing through the 
Montesuelo Valley, where the yellow wrapper-to- 
bacco is grown to perfection. Over this new road 
these isolated tobacco-growers can get their crops 
to market at a wonderful decrease in cost as com- 
pared with former times, and as the price for these 
superior grades of leaf will not go down, the plant- 
ers will reap increased profits, while in the end they 
will discover that with the roads near at hand they 
may grow other crops at a profit. 



196 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

The foregoing description of the conditions pre- 
vailing in the Vuelta Aba jo district and of the road 
work carried on there are equally true, in a meas- 
ure, of other districts of Cuba. From Havana the 
beautiful new highways stretch forth in various 
directions. To Matanzas, to Cardenas, southward 
to Batabano on the Caribbean shore, to Gunies, 
Colon, and eastward for over one hundred miles, 
to Santa Clara, stretch splendid macadam high- 
ways ; inviting the automobilist, bringing innumer- 
able tiny hamlets and isolated plantations within 
reach of the markets of the Island and opening up 
great areas of wonderfully rich land. From Cam- 
aguey roads lead north, south, east and west; 
yearly extending farther afield, while about Santi- 
ago wonderful roads extend over mountain and 
valley, amid magnificent scenery and through vast 
forests. Between each system there are gaps — 
wide areas with the old impassable trails the only 
means of transportation — but Cuba is a vast 
country, it is young, it is practically new, and it 
is but a question of time, and a short time at that, 
when from Cape Maysi to Cap« San Antonio the 
Island will be traversed by a system of roads over 




u 

c 

P-c 

c 
a 
< 

H 

< 



THE HIGHROADS OF CUBA 197 

which the traveller may speed by auto through a 
veritable wonderland of scenery, of marvellous fer- 
tility, of enormous, almost unbelievable resources 
and of tremendous possibilities. 



CHAPTER XIV 

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL CUSTOMS 

From an American point of view the commercial 
and financial conditions in Cuba are strange and 
interesting. Oddly enough, in both Cuba and 
Porto Rico the bulk of business is in the hands of 
Spaniards and while the Spaniards as a race are 
prone to old-fashioned ideas and look upon modern 
progress, sanitation and education with disfavour, 
yet in the business world they are progressive, 
sharp, shrewd and a bulwark of strength and hon- 
esty without which these countries would fare ill 
indeed. Credit with the Spaniard is a mania and 
is jealously guarded at any cost, and failures of 
Spanish business houses are of the rarest occur- 
rence. Failures must of necessity occur in all 
countries and at all times, but in Cuba, when a 
business man or a business firm is embarrassed, a 

helping hand is extended by others in the same, or 
198 



COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL 199 

even in other lines of business, and the prospective 
bankrupt is saved by the simple expedient of a 
loan to tide over the difficulties or by securing a 
buyer for his stock or business. 

This would seem a remarkable practice in our 
own country, but is it not far better and more 
charitable than leaving each man to shift for him- 
self or, as is more often the case, " hitting the man 
who is down " and piling attachments, suits and 
claims on an already overburdened and struggling 
competitor ? 

The merchant of standing in Cuba takes no com- 
fort or pleasure in the misfortunes of his fellow 
business man and each and every one strives to 
comfort, aid and help his fellows; Castilian dig- 
nity and courtesy forbid them from making capital 
from the misfortunes of others and nine times out 
of ten the local press never hears of the embarrass- 
ment of business houses in Spanish- American coun- 
tries. 

Credit is the basis of all trade in Cuba as else- 
where in Spanish America and the West Indies 
generally, and the American who wishes to sell 
goods in these countries must learn to extend the 



200 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

long credits expected in order to compete with for- 
eign firms. 

The credit is not asked for lack of ready money, 
for there is abundant cash in hand ; but the credit 
system is a " custom of the country " and long es- 
tablished and it is as unalterable as the everlasting 
hills. 

It is partly for this reason that the Germans and 
other Europeans obtain the bulk of Spanish-Amer- 
ican trade, for the European business houses and 
manufacturers give abundant credit of from six 
months to a year or more and the wholesalers al- 
low the retailers continuous running accounts and 
indefinite credit in return. 

In order to secure this credit the word of the 
buyer must be as good as gold and the word of a 
merchant in Cuba is as good as his bond. In 
fact, one leading American business man in Ha- 
vana said, " I'd rather have the nod of the head of 
a Havana merchant than a note-of-hand of a mer- 
chant in the States." 

The promise of a business man in Cuba is su- 
premely sacred and little or no risk is run by the 
man who extends credit to a Cuban house. More- 



COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL 201 

over, Havana is practically fireproof and a disas- 
trous fire has never occurred ; fire sales are unknown 
and no one has ever been known to burn his store 
for the sake of insurance or defrauding creditors. 
From these remarks, however, it must not be as- 
sumed that the Spanish business man is lacking in 
shrewdness or ability. One seldom sees Jews in 
business in Cuba and the reason is simple ; although 
the Hebrew is the shrewdest of business men in the 
North, yet he cannot succeed in Cuba, for the Cu- 
ban-Spaniard will beat him at his own game. 
There is a saying that " it takes two Jews to beat 
a Greek and two Greeks to beat a Gallego," and 
he who attempts to give the Spanish business man 
other than a square deal will find this saying true ; 
the Spaniard will smile and shake hands and you 
may never know he suspects you or is other than 
a friend and on the surface he will be as courteous 
and obliging as ever, but sooner or later his turn 
will come and he will return your trickery ten- 
fold. 

Cuba's commercial interest naturally centres in 
Havana, for the spirit of Havana is the spirit of 
Cuba, and in the capital city one may obtain a 



202 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

very good idea of the business status and business 
methods of the whole Island. Although the prin- 
cipal business is in the hands of Spaniards, yet 
there are many Cubans, Americans, Englishmen 
and Germans in business ; but Spanish methods 
prevail and resources are guarded, credit is pro- 
tected and honesty is a law, which although un- 
written is rigorously enforced. The Spanish or 
Cuban merchant may drive a hard bargain; he 
may be shrewd, clever and cunning; but the deal 
will be honest and square and need not be in writ- 
ing to be secure, as far as he is concerned. He 
will keep his promises to the letter and he will ex- 
pect you to do likewise, for until he has proven 
you otherwise he considers you as honest as him- 
self and takes you at your word. 

Money in the form of actual cash is wonderfully 
abundant in Cuba ; in fact, there is probably more 
real money in the Island than in any other country 
of the same population in the world. The banks 
are full of it, every store has plenty, there are 
quantities safely stored in old safes, drawers and 
other hiding places and one can cash a large check 
or change a bill of large denomination at many a 



COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL 203 

" hole in the wall " that, judging by appearances, 
would not have enough cash on hand to buy a lot- 
tery ticket. 

Up to within a few years ago such a thing as 
using a check to pay a bill was unknown in Cuba. 
When a man wished to pay a bill he went to his 
old desk, or rickety safe, or money-box; counted 
out the sum in gold or silver and carted it to his 
creditor who, finding the amount correct, cancelled 
the debt and either tucked away the receipts in 
another chest or carried it to one or more of his 
own creditors. Banks there were in abundance 
and cambios were on every corner, but they were 
used merely for the sake of buying bills of ex- 
change on other countries, for changing foreign 
money, or for obtaining loans and no one ever 
dreamed of placing their ready cash in a bank 
merely for the sake of having a checking account 
for convenience. 

This custom of hoarding money is as old as 
Spain itself and ever since Cuba became a republic 
the government has made constant efforts to wean 
the people from the habit and to induce the mer- 
chants and others to put their money in the banks 



204 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

and hence in circulation. Much progress has been 
made in this direction, but still one may see 
millions in gold and silver coins, not to speak 
of American eagles stacked in the open safes or 
chests of merchants. The money exchanges or 
cambios are everywhere and at any one of these 
you may exchange any money issued for any other 
money you desire and in nearly every one of these 
cambios you will see an ancient sheet-iron safe that 
anybody could break open with a hammer or a 
monkey-wrench. Within these rickety affairs you 
will glimpse stacks upon stacks of gold and silver 
and rolls of greenbacks exposed freely to the pub- 
lic gaze every time the money changer opens his 
safe to change a bill or gold piece. 

Safe-cracking seems an unknown art in Cuba, 
and why no energetic and ambitious American 
cracksman has never made a trip to Havana and 
reaped a harvest is a puzzle — possibly such an 
event might be the best possible means of proving 
the value of banks to the conservative Cuban-Span- 
iard. Formerly, owing to the free circulation of 
French, Spanish and American money in Cuba 
and especially in Havana, many depositors 



COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL 205 

carried three separate accounts against which they 
drew in different moneys and one may readily im- 
agine the difficulties encountered by the bankers in 
having to bear in mind the proper reserve at the 
close of each day — not in the total sum, but in 
each separate money according to the demands of 
the time and the rate of exchange. 

As regards credits and collections in Cuba, as 
considered from our own point of view, there is 
not the least trouble, for Dun's Commercial 
Agency covers the island as well as the other West 
Indies and Bradstreet's has an agency in Havana, 
and definite information is as easily obtained and 
as reliable as in any American city. 

Another factor which tends to secure the credit 
of the leading Cuban mercantile houses is the fact 
that they have gone through the various Cuban 
insurrections and their stability, being sufficient to 
carry them through such trying times, is ample 
proof of their commercial strength and integrity. 

The leading bank of Cuba is the Banco Nacional 
on Obispo Street, one of the recognised interna- 
tional banks with an organisation which covers the 
entire world and provides Cuba with banking 



206 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

facilities equal to those of any other nation. 

In Cuba alone this bank has upwards of 20,000 
depositors and at its Havana office more than $3,- 
000,000 in cash passes through the tellers' win- 
dows every day. 

The bank has about fifteen branches in Cuba, 
one in each of the leading cities, and two in Ha- 
vana, besides the main office. 

The bank's system is a combination of American 
and European methods, and in addition the bank 
conducts an information department where data 
and information regarding individuals, firms and 
corporations in Cuba and facts relative to Cuba's 
securities, products, exports and imports, planta- 
tions and general information are filed. 

There is also an exchange department in daily 
communication, with every money centre of the 
world, while the collection department is one of the 
largest branches of the business. A savings 
department is also conducted and in addition the 
bank acts as trustee for persons, companies or gov- 
ernments and is prepared to buy stocks, bonds, 
mortgages or other securities on instructions from 
customers. 



COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL 207 

In every way the bank is modern, up-to-date 
and equipped with every safeguard and conveni- 
ence, while its magnificent white building, towering 
above the low edifices of Obispo Street, its beauti- 
ful marble-finished interior and airy offices on the 
upper floors make the Cuban National Bank Build- 
ing one of the sights of Havana. 



CHAPTER XV 

cuba's model club 

In all Spanish-American countries clubs are an 
important feature and there is scarcely a town in 
South or Central America or the Spanish West 
Indies that cannot boast of clubs which would put 
to shame many of those in our largest cities. 

In Cuba, and especially in Havana, the club-life 
is carried to extremes, and the visitor, asking the 
name of some of the magnificent and enormous 
buildings of Havana is invariably surprised to 
learn that they are this or that club. 

There is the Asturias Club, composed of Astu- 
rian Spaniards; the Cuban Club of Cubans, the 
American Club, the Spanish Club, the Gallegos 
Club, with its million-dollar home and with a mem- 
bership of some 37,000 Galician workingmen, and 
last but by no means least the Commercial Clerks' 
Club. 

To describe in detail each and every one of these 
208 



CUBA'S MODEL CLUB 209 

clubs, or even a few of them, would be impossible, 
and as the Commercial Clerks' Club is typical and 
one of the greatest clubs in the world a descrip- 
tion of the organisation, home and achievements 
of this one association will be sufficient for the 
whole. 

This famous club, known in Spanish as. " Asso- 
ciacion de Dependientes del Comercio de la Ha- 
bana," is a marvellous organisation, and its his- 
tory is a splendid demonstration of what united 
effort and enthusiastic energy can accomplish for 
the welfare of its members. For many years the 
problem of bringing the employe and employer 
close together was uppermost in the minds of many 
leading business men in Havana and in 1880 the 
idea was taken up with vigour and after many 
troubles and difficulties a meeting was held in the 
Pairet Theatre for the purpose of organising a 
permanent association. 

Enthusiasm was soon aroused and the club at 
once began to assume definite shape and form and 
on August 1, 1880, the first election of officers was 
held and success was assured. 

Committees were then appointed, rules and reg- 



210 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

ulations drafted and the propaganda of the asso- 
ciation was spread throughout Cuba. 

The mission of the club was to benefit and to ben- 
efit in every way possible. A commercial depart- 
ment was organised and at its head were placed 
men of wide experience and recognised ability. A 
course in bookkeeping, stenography and typewrit- 
ing was provided, with hours of attendance ar- 
ranged to suit the convenience of members who were 
employed during the day, and this department has 
grown to tremendous size, and its graduates may 
be counted by hundreds. In fact, this one branch 
of the club's activities has well repaid the founders 
of the club for all their labour and sacrifices. 

It was soon found necessary to add new depart- 
ments to the educational side of the club and at 
the present time there is a full collegiate course in 
mathematics, natural science, belles lettres, Span- 
ish and English ; a veritable academy for the bene- 
fit of the club's members. Physical culture has 
not been neglected and a well-equipped gymnasium 
under capable instructors is a feature of the club, 
while games, music, concerts and dances provide 
entertainment for club members and guests. Aside 



CUBA'S MODEL CLUB 211 

from these features, provisions were made for the 
benefit of sick, disabled, or otherwise unfortunate 
members. Many of the wealthy, influential Hava- 
nese were members or patrons of the club and these 
men resolved to establish a retreat for the care 
and treatment of the sick and injured. One en- 
dowment after another was made in rapid succes- 
sion until now the club owns and operates one of 
the finest sanitariums to be found anywhere in the 
world. This is known as the " Quinta " and is 
situated in Jesus del Monte Street and is sur- 
rounded with beautiful gardens, large attractive 
grounds and is equipped with every known con- 
venience and device of modern medicine and sur- 
gery. 

The Quinta comprises seven large buildings and 
the medical staff in attendance consists of nineteen 
of the very best practitioners to be found in Ha- 
vana. Here, surrounded by every comfort and 
convenience, are the various departments, each 
named from some generous benefactor, and here 
every known disease and ailment from toothache to 
the most fatal and pernicious diseases are treated 
in the latest and most scientific manner. Here 



212 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

members worn out, or in need of rest, can find se- 
clusion and relaxation and in fact the entire scheme 
may be considered as the dream of the Good Sa- 
maritan brought to concrete, practical form un- 
der the auspices of the Commercial Clerks' Club 
of Havana. 

From place to place the club has drifted for sev- 
eral years, — always in search of a suitable spot 
for its home, — until at last it found the desired 
haven and in the very heart of the city stands the 
present clubhouse, — a magnificent building of art 
and beauty that invariably excites admiration. 

The club is situated at the intersection of the 
Prado and Trocadero Streets and covers an acre 
of ground, extending the entire distance along 
Trocadero Street from the Prado to Zulueta 
Street, the main entrance being on the Prado. 

The building is three stories in height with a 
dormitory of six large rooms for porters and other 
employes and the architecture is of Spanish-Moor- 
ish type, the construction being of brick cased with 
cement and finished in imitation of marble. The 
cornerstone was laid with impressive ceremonies 



CUBA'S MODEL CLUB 213 

on September 28, 1902, and the building was com- 
pleted in 1907 at a cost of $700,000. 

Upon entering the main doorway the first ob- 
ject to attract attention is the grand staircase, 
built of solid Parian marble at a cost of $30,000, 
and said to rival any stairway in the world, either 
ancient or modern. The first floor contains nu- 
merous Ionic columns supporting the floor above. 

On this first floor is the gymnasium and in its 
rear the dental parlors where members may receive 
treatment free of charge, while at the sides are 
baths of all kinds with wardrobes and lockers. 

On the second story is the recreation hall and 
amusement rooms. Here all classes of legitimate 
games are enjoyed, such as checkers, chess, pool, 
billiards, etc., while gambling in any form is 
strictly debarred. On this same floor there is a 
luxuriously fitted cafe and restaurant, and in the 
rear the administration offices with the offices of 
the secretary and corps of assistants who are kept 
busy transacting the vast and multitudinous busi- 
ness incidental to an organisation of such tremen- 
dous size and scope. Across from these offices is 



214 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

the library, filled with standard works in de luxe 
bindings, all the leading magazines and papers of 
the United States and Europe, and writing tables 
and desks for the use of members. 

A second grand stairway leads to the third floor 
and the grand salon, banquet-hall and ballroom. 
The visitor is almost bewildered by the splendour 
and richness of this room with its avenue of a hun- 
dred great fluted columns, the exquisite frescoes 
on the ceilings, the stained-glass windows, the em- 
blazoned heraldry and shields upon the walls,—* 
the crystal candelabra and the luxurious upholstery 
around the base of each column. 

On this floor, just behind the banquet hall, is 
the office of the President and Board of Directors, 
and here, in sumptuous chambers, are held the reg- 
ular and special sessions of the governing board. 
The club is noted for its hospitality and cordially 
welcomes visitors, to whom it shows every possible 
courtesy and attention. It has repeatedly enter- 
tained Havana's most distinguished guests, such 
as the Pan-American Congress in 1901, the late 
President Palma in 1902, the members of the First 
National Medical Congress in 1905 and the fare- 



CUBA'S MODEL CLUB 215 

well reception to Governor Magoon in 1908. 

The membership of the club is about 30,000, the 
property is valued at over one million dollars, there 
are branches in all the leading cities and towns of 
Cuba and the Isle of Pines and, most marvellous of 
all, no entrance fee is charged, the cost of member- 
ship being merely a monthly payment of a nominal 
sum. 

Moreover, there are no difficulties in the way of 
joining the club, the only requirements being that 
the applicant must be a white man of good moral 
character and a bona-fide resident of Havana or 
any of the towns where branches of the club are 
established. 

In short, this club is a marvel ; its aims and ob- 
jects are of the most admirable character, its quar- 
ters are unexcelled, its scope of the broadest, its 
benevolence unequalled, its hospitality famous, and 
it is worthily and justly the glory and pride of the 
Havanese. 



CHAPTER XVI 

HOTELS, RESTAURANTS AND OTHER ITEMS 

There are numerous hotels in Cuba and in all the 
large towns they are quite satisfactory. It is a 
hard matter to say which is the " best " hotel in 
any town and in Cuba this is particularly the case, 
for each hotel has its advantages and disadvan- 
tages. In a general way, however, all the really 
first-class hotels are good, but one must not expect 
to find the same comforts, luxuries and surround- 
ings that would be found in a New York hotel. 
The hotels in Cuba, and particularly in Havana, 
are large, bare, stone or concrete structures with 
tiled floors, pillared corridors, open interior courts 
and furnished with the simplest and barest neces- 
sities of life. In many, the rooms are so high, so 
bare, and so devoid of ornamentation or furnish- 
ings that one has the impression of sleeping in a 
tomb or a jail, but coolness, sanitary conditions 

and safety from fire are the prime requisites and 
216 



HOTELS AND OTHER ITEMS 217 

little effort is made to have the hotels or their 
rooms homelike or attractive. In the best hotels 
the bedrooms open either on the street or the patio 
and in most cases each room has a little iron-railed 
balcony of its own on which the occupants may 
lounge and watch the ever-shifting crowds beneath. 
The service in the hotels is not of course equal to 
New York hostelries, but no one is in a hurry in 
Cuba and sooner or later one's every want will be 
attended to. Many of the hotels have a restau- 
rant in connection with them, while a few quote 
both American and European rates. The rates 
in the best hotels in Havana vary from $1.50 per 
day (European) for a single room during the sum- 
mer, to $10.00 a day for a room and bath during 
the winter season and in many of the smaller, but 
none the less excellent hotels, a good suite of rooms 
for two persons may be had for $2.00 a day in the 
summer or for $4.00 a day in winter. 

Nearly all the best hotels in Havana are on or 
near the Central Park and runners and interpreters 
meet every ship. Some of these hotels are kept by 
Cubans or Spaniards, and others by Americans or 
Englishmen. 



218 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

The Plaza is a typically American hotel and is 
much frequented by Americans who feel more at 
home here than in most of the other hotels. It is 
an immense structure, occupying an entire square, 
is strictly fireproof, is equipped with elevators 
and electric lights and has an excellent restaurant. 
The immense ballroom and cabaret on the fourth 
floor is noteworthy. This immense room will ac- 
commodate 1,000 people and in the palm-adorned 
cabaret restaurant nightly concerts are held dur- 
ing the winter season. 

The Sevilla, situated on Trocadero Street be- 
tween the Prado and Zulueta Street, is another 
splendid hostelry. The Sevilla has every modern 
improvement, and the service and cuisine is of the 
highest standard. In its architectural features 
the Sevilla is unexcelled by any Havana hotel and 
its situation has the advantage of being off the 
main thoroughfare and consequently less noisy 
than the hotels situated on Central Park. The 
Pasaje, situated on the Prado near Central Park, 
is another first-class hotel with a private bath in 
every room and every modern improvement. 

Among the other leading hotels are the Nadin, 



HOTELS AND OTHER ITEMS 819 

the Brooklyn, the Miramar, the Inglaterra and the 
Telegrafo. 

The dining-rooms in the hotels are usually a la 
carte and the meals are excellent, well served and 
not particularly high in price. In many of these 
hotel restaurants the visitor may have either 
American or native dishes and at the smaller cafes 
and restaurants almost any dish desired will be 
furnished. Any of the larger cafes or restaurants 
are reliable, especially those about the Prado and 
Central Park, and in every one there is at least one 
waiter who can speak English. In many of the 
restaurants the menu is printed both in English 
and Spanish and a great many of the native Cuban 
dishes are well worth trying and are often su- 
perior to the more conventional and customary 
American dishes. The native Cuban fish are in- 
variably fresh and well cooked, as are the oysters, 
clams, crabs, crawfish and lobsters, the latter be- 
ing particularly fine especially when served cold 
with salad. 

Steaks, chops, eggs and poultry are always good 
and well cooked and the vegetables and fruits are 
a revelation. 



320 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Among the typical dishes served in these restau- 
rants are: 

Rueda de Pargo, Red snapper steaks. 

Parguitas fritos, Fried squirrel fish. 

Pescado mmuta, A very delicate fried whitebait. 

Ostras del pais, Native oysters. 

Calamwes, Cuttle fish. 

Cangreos, Crabs. 

Camarrones, Crawfish. 

Lcmgosta con salada, Lobster with salad. 

Platanos fritos, Fried plantains. 

Arroz con polio, Chicken with rice. 

Huevos fritos, Fried eggs. 

Huevos pasado por agua, Soft boiled eggs (lit- 
erally "passed through water"). 

Huevos melcochados, Medium boiled eggs, 

Huevos duros, Hard boiled eggs. 

Tortillas, Omelettes. 

Ropa vieja, (literally " old clothes," a sort of 
dried or jerked beef). 

Chalchichas fritos, Fried Spanish sausage. 

Among the excellent soft drinks which are fa- 
vourite beverages in Cuba are: 



HOTELS AND OTHER ITEMS 221 

Lwnonada, Limeade. 

Naranjada, Orangeade. 

Pina colado, Strained pineapple juice. 

Pma sin color, Pineapple juice with pulp. 

Ensalada, A mixture of pines, orange, cherry, 
etc. 

Guayaba, Guava flavour. 

Grenada, Pomegranate. 

Zapote, Sapodillo. 

Anon, Custard apple. 

Garapma, From fermented pineapple. 

Orchata, Milk of almonds. 

Guanabama, Made from sour-sop. 

Azucarillo, or Panal, A drink made by dissolv- 
ing a roll made from sugar and white of egg in iced 
water. 

Coco de Agua, The milk of green cocoanuts. 

Outside of Havana the hotels in the larger towns 
are usually good and in some of the cities they are 
equal to or even better than those of the capital. 
At Matanzas the " Hotel Gran Paris " is probably 
the best and is equipped with electric lights, tele- 
phones and rooms with baths, and in fact has all 



222 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

the conveniences and improvements of any modern 
hotel. A guide and interpreter from the hotel 
meets all trains and boats. At Santiago there are 
several good hotels, among them the " Casa 
Grande," European plan, at $1.50 to $6.00 per 
day and with accommodations for 75 guests; the 
" Venus " with European rates of $1.00 to $3.00 
and American-plan rates of $3.00 to $4.00 and 
rooms for 60 guests ; and the " Luz," American, 
at $3.50 to $4.00. At Antilla is the " New An- 
tilla Hotel " owned and operated by the Cuba Rail- 
road Company, and which is a thoroughly modern, 
up-to-date, fireproof hostelry fitted with both 
fresh and salt-water baths and with accommoda- 
tions for 75 guests. At Camaguey is the most 
beautiful and probably the best hotel in the Island, 
the " Hotel Camaguey," owned by the Cuba 
Railroad Company. This unique hotel occupies 
the immense building formerly used as a barracks 
by the Spaniards. The enormous building cov- 
ers nearly five acres of ground and was designed 
to quarter 2,000 troops. The building is quaintly 
Spanish in architecture, with large open patios, 
great arched corridors and red-tiled roofs, while 



HOTELS AND OTHER ITEMS 

palms, flowers and tropical vegetation make the 
patios veritable bowers of colour and perfume. 
The plumbing, sanitation and drainage are of the 
latest and most approved type while the furnish- 
ings are simple, airy and well adapted to the cli- 
mate. The water is obtained from artesian wells 
on the premises and the cuisine is excellent and the 
service perfect. The rooms are light, airy and 
well ventilated and the upper rooms all have pri- 
vate balconies. 

At Cienfuegos, Pinar del Rio, Cardenas, Santa 
Clara and in fact every large or important town in 
Cuba, and especially those reached by the main 
railway or steamship lines, the traveller will find 
one or more hotels with satisfactory service and 
food and no one need fear lack of accommodations 
when travelling through the interior or around the 
coasts of the Island. 

In most of the outlying Cuban towns the car- 
riage fares, car fares and cost of the various com- 
modities are very nearly the same as in Havana, 
for while the cost of importing goods may be 
higher yet the merchants and others have not as 
yet raised their prices to " bleed " the tourist and 



224 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

are contented with a fair profit, and in these outly- 
ing districts the traveller will find far more in the 
way of native curios, native-made goods and typ- 
ical products than in Havana, where a large por- 
tion of the articles for sale are imported from 
Europe and the United States. 



CHAPTER XVII 

A FEW FACTS AND FIGUBJES 

The climate, exports and imports, population, 
health and various other matters pertaining to 
Cuba have been mentioned in a general way in the 
preceding chapters, but the following data, com- 
piled from the reports of the United State9 
Weather Bureau, Department of Agriculture, and 
the Consular and Cuban Government reports, will 
perhaps be of interest for ready reference and will 
prove more concrete and convenient than when 
scattered through the text. 

Area and Population (Census of 1907). 

Province Area sq. miles Population 

Orjente 12,468 455,086 

Camagtxey 10,500 116,269 

Santa Claea 9,560 457,431 

Pinar Del Rio 5,000 240,372 

Matanzas 3,700 239,812 

Havana 2,773 538,010 

Total 44,000 2,048,980 

225 



226 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Cities Population 

Havana 296,159 

Santiago de Cuba 45,470 

Matanzas 36,009 

ClENFUEGOS 30,100 

Camaguey 29,616 

Cardenas 24,280 

Sancti Spibitus 17,440 

Santa Clara 16,702 

Manzanillo 15,819 

GuANTANAMO 14,559 

Guanabacoa 14,368 

Sagua La Gbande 12,393 

Tbinidad 11,197 

Pinab Del Rio 10,634 

Mabianao 9,332 

Jovellanos 9,246 

San Antonio de los Banos 9,125 

Caibabten 8,333 

Guines 8,053 

Holguin 7,592 

Placetas 6,184 

Climate and Rainfall of the Interior. 

The following figures are from the report of the 
United States Weather Bureau at Camaguey and 
compiled during nine years of observation. 

In Havana and the coast towns the average tem- 
perature is higher, there is less rainfall and the 
winds are more severe during the hurricane months. 



A FEW FACTS AND FIGURES 227 

Extreme maximum temperature recorded, 98° on August 
24, 1899. 

Extreme minimum record, 47° on January 27, 1901. 

The temperature has been above 95 degrees during six 
years only on the following dates for each month: 

June 1, 1901 96° 

September 1, 1900 96° 

July 30, 1899 97° 

August 24, 1899 98° 

The mean temperature for the four hottest months of the 
year is as follows: 

June, average temperature for three years 80° 

July, average temperature for six years 80° 

August, average temperature for six years 81° 

September, average temperature for six years.. 80° 
The average for January is 70.3°. 

WIND VELOCITIES 

There is no record of a severe storm or hurricane ever 
having occurred at this station. The following are the only 
five dates recorded on which the wind reached a velocity of 
more than 35 miles an hour during each month: 

July 20, 1900 36 miles from the east 

September 13, 1901 36 miles from the east 

August 2, 1902 44 miles from southwest 

July 30, 1903 36 miles from the east 

August 4, 1904 39 miles from the east 

HAIKFALL 

The heaviest precipitation during twenty-four hours was 
on August 22, 1902, when 4.47 inches of rain fell. The 
average rainfall is 54 inches a year. 

The following table of extreme temperatures at 



228 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

various United States weather stations will be of 
interest as compared with the above: 

Station Maximum Minimum 

Los Angeles, Cal 109. 28. 

Mobile, Ala 102. — 1. 

Jacksonville, Fla 104. 10. 

Pensacola, Fla. 103. 7. 

New Orleans, La 102. 7. 

Chicago, 111 103. —23. 

San Francisco, Cal 100. 29. 

St. Louis, Mo 107. —22. 

Minneapolis, Minn 104. — 41. 

Seattle, Wash 93. 3. 

Tacoma, Wash 92. — 0. 

New York City 100. —3, 

Boston, Mass 102. —13. 

Health and Sanitation. 

Since the American intervention Cuba's sanitary 
condition has been so perfected and improved that 
to-day the Island stands second in health among 
the countries of the world, the death rate being 
but 12 per thousand, while the death rate in the 
United States is about 16. 

Yellow fever and pernicious malaria are prac- 
tically stamped out and there is no more danger 
from disease in Cuba than in New York or any 



A FEW FACTS AND FIGURES £29 

American city, provided proper care and precau- 
tions are taken and the visitor does not overeat, 
over-drink, over-exercise or over-indulge himself 
in any way and follows native customs of business, 
recreation, dress, and life. 

Minor stomach and bowel troubles are liable to 
affect the Northern visitor at first, as in any coun- 
try where the water, food and climate are rad- 
ically different from those he is accustomed to; 
but such attacks are usually of short duration 
and are beneficial rather than otherwise. Bu- 
bonic plague has occurred from time to time in 
Havana as well as in Porto Rico, San Francisco, 
New Orleans and even in New York, but this dis- 
ease is so well understood, is so easily recognised 
and so quickly taken in hand by the health officers 
that it seldom spreads beyond restricted districts 
and is usually under control within a short time 
and with little loss of life. 

Trade and Finances. 

Cuba is one of the few countries whose exports 
are more valuable than her imports and the trade, 



230 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

or to be more explicit, the foreign commerce, has 
shown an increase of 500 per cent in seventeen 
years, that is, between 1902, when the republic's 
history began, and 1919. Some idea of the value 
of Cuba's products may be obtained from the fol- 
lowing figures: 

In 1918-19, an extraordinary year, the value 
of the sugar crop was $370,101,837.35. Citrus 
fruits, pineapples, vegetables, cacao and honey 
yielded $4,000,000; hardwoods and dye woods 
$1,000,000; cattle, hides, etc., $3,000,000; iron, 
copper, manganese and asphalt, $12,000,000. 

Aside from manufactured products, Cuba im- 
ports large quantities of foodstuffs, among the 
articles being beans, butter, lard, eggs, coffee, 
condensed milk, potatoes and salt pork. There is 
little doubt that all of these animal and vegetable 
products could be raised at home, for large areas 
of arable land still await the coming of the settler. 

Few people realize the opportunities in Cuba 
for colonists with a reasonable amount of capital, 
brains and the will to work diligently. Fruits, 
vegetables, cattle, hogs, chickens, eggs and other 
farm products are in great demand. Two crops 



A FEW FACTS AND FIGURES 231 

of corn and even three may be raised in some dis- 
tricts ; beans and potatoes give two crops a year ; 
alfalfa, clover, rape and other fodder grow rapidly, 
while guinea grass reaches a height often of twelve 
feet. Strawberries, blackberries and other North- 
ern small fruits may be grown at all seasons and 
fetch good prices, wtiile Cuban hogs and cattle are 
the equal of those bred in the United States. 
Poultry is always profitable and fowl grown for 
the table invariably finds a ready market because 
the Cuban butcher cuts the birds into sections 
and will sell you, for instance, two wings or two 
legs, or the 'breast, neck or back. 

It may be asked: "Why has general farming 
been neglected?" 

The answer is simple, For many years under 
Spanish rule, Cubans were compelled to confine 
themselves to sugar and tobacco, and as these two 
crops brought enormous profits, both land and 
labor were devoted almost exclusively to them, 
other necessary products being imported. Indeed, 
not until the intervention of the United States in 
Cuban affairs was general farming encouraged. 

To-day large numbers of Cubans and hundreds 



232 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

of Americans, Scandinavians, Englishmen, Cana- 
dians, Italians, to name 'but a few nationalities, 
are engaged in farming, poultry-raising, fruit 
growing, cattle and hog raising, bee-keeping and 
other industries, both individually and in colonies, 
and it will be but a comparatively short time be- 
fore Cuba's good lands are all taken up and the 
opportunities for investment and profitable agri- 
cultural occupations will be gone. 

Among the numerous colonies in Cuba, the fol- 
lowing may be mentioned, and any American con- 
templating settling in the island will do well to 
visit one or more of these settlements : 

La Gloria. In Camaguey province, about 30 
miles from Nuevitas Bay. 

Ceballos. In Camaguey Province, on Jucaro 
and San Fernando Railroad. May also be reached 
by steamer to Nuevitas, Antilla, or Nipe Bay and 
thence by rail through Ciego de Avilla. 

Baetle. In Oriente Province, on the main line 
of Cuba Railway, 120 miles from Antilla. Reached 
by rail from Havana or Santiago or by ship to 
Antilla and thence by rail. 

Las Tunas. In Oriente Province, about 105 



A FEW FACTS AND FIGURES 233 

miles from Antilla on the main line of Cuba Rail- 
way. 

Bayate. In Oriente Province, on main railway 
line, 43 miles from Antilla. 

Omaja. In Oriente, on main railway line, about 
40 miles from Antilla. 

Paso Estancia. In Oriente, on Cuba Railway, 
about 45 miles from Antilla. 

Cupey. In Oriente, 75 miles from Antilla, on 
main railway line. 

Sartia. In Oriente, on Nipe Bay. 

La Atalaya. In Camagiiey Province, on 
Nuevitas Bay. 

Canet. In Camagiiey Province, on line of 
Puerto Principe and Nuevitas Railroad, 25 miles 
from Nuevitas. 

Lebanon. In Oriente, near Bartle. 

Mayabe. In Oriente, near Holguin. 

Galbis. In Camagiiey, on main line of Cuba 
Railroad, 54 miles from Camagiiey. 

Manati. In Oriente, on Manati Bay, 40 miles 
from Nuevitas. Reached by steamer to Nuevitas 
and by sail boat to Manati or by rail to Nuevitas 
and thence by boat. 



234 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

Cubitas. In Camagiiey Province, near La 
Gloria. 

The prospective purchaser of land in Cuba 
should proceed just as cautiously and carefully as 
in any other country. There is just as much poor, 
worthless land and just as many unscrupulous, 
dishonest land companies and promoters in Cuba 
as elsewhere. Titles are also an important matter 
and many a man has bought land only to find that 
the title was questionable. 

Don't buy land in Cuba without personally see- 
ing it. Much hardship and trouble have been 
caused by buying land through circulars, adver- 
tisements, correspondence or agents. 

If you do not speak or read Spanish, employ a 
reliable and competent interpreter to make sure 
that your land is the same described in the title 
papers. 

Do not buy land that is not within easy reach of 
cities, towns, railways or ports. 

Employ a competent and reputable lawyer in 
Cuba to look into titles, deeds and other papers 
and to carry on all legal and real estate business. 
There are plenty of good lawyers in Cuba, andl 



A FEW FACTS AND FIGURES 235 

while it may cost a little more to employ them, 
you will feel sure that the legal matters are prop- 
erly arranged. 

Naturally, the prospective settler will want to 
know what educational opportunities Cuba offers 
to his children. For his information it may be 
said that there are 5,000 primary schools in the 
republic and a high school or institute in each 
Province. Havana also has a university with an 
excellent staff of instructors. 

Transportation is a simple problem. There are 
2,600 miles of railroad in the republic and 250 
miles of electric railway. All of the more im- 
portant towns have direct connection with the 
ports either by railroad or highways; thus the 
shipment of produce is carried on with facility. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Cuba's share in the great war 

Cuba's share in the Great War was not insignifi- 
cant. The island republic was first among the 
Latin-American nations to follow the lead of the 
United States in declaring war upon Germany. 
On April 6, 1917, President Menocal sent a mes- 
sage to the Cuban Congress asking for a declara- 
tion of war as a protest against the inhuman sub- 
marine campaign and to preserve the ideals of 
American solidarity, honor and justice. It was 
a popular move and on the following day the reso- 
lution declaring a state of war was unanimously 
adopted. Almost immediately the German and 
Austrian merchant steamers which remained war- 
bound in various Cuban ports were seized and 
handed over to the United States government for 
the transportation of troops, munitions and food 
to Europe. The tonnage amounted to 200,000 
tons — a valuable acquisition in view of the critical 

shortage of ships. 

236 



CUBA IN THE GREAT WAR 237 

The Cuban Congress proceeded to pass several 
laws concerning espionage, aliens and their prop- 
erty, and other important matters relating to the 
national defence. Compulsory military service was 
also adopted, and Cuba offered to send an army 
corps to France, fully trained and equipped, pro- 
vided the United States would allocate the ships 
necessary to transport it. This generous offer 
could not be accepted because of the difficulties 
involved in sending the American troops overseas, 
nevertheless Cuba went ahead with the drafting 
of men for army service and was engaged with 
this task when the armistice was granted to Ger- 
many. A number of Cubans, however, entered the 
service of the Allies as volunteers, and several of 
them achieved distinction in the French air force. 

Cuba also organized a small fleet to patrol the 
Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea in co- 
operation with the American warships, while 
counter-espionage operations were conducted at 
Havana, which was a way station for travellers 
bound to Mexico, where Germany expected to stir 
up trouble against the United States with the 
hope of forcing the American government to keep 



238 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

a large detachment of troops on the Mexican 
border. 

The Cuban people subscribed heavily to the 
American war loans, their banks took a share in 
the French loans, and the Cuban Congress voted 
$2,500,000 in aid of the victims of war in France, 
Italy, Serbia and other countries. Moreover, the 
Cubans gave generous support to the Red Cross 
and other relief agencies. 

If one should be asked to cite Cuba's principal 
contribution to the Allied cause, the reply would 
naturally be framed in one short word — Sugar. 
It was her "fighting weapon," to use the apt phrase 
of a member of the Cuban Government. There 
was a shortage of this indispensable foodstuff all 
over the world and particularly in the Allied coun- 
tries — a shortage aggravated by the decrease of 
shipping and general dislocation of trade. Cuba 
stepped into the breach, placing her crop at the 
disposal of the Allies and encouraging increased 
production. Her sugar was sold at a price fixed 
by the United States and associated governments 
— a price far lower than that which an open mar- 
ket would have returned — while a vast sum of 



CUBA IN THE GREAT WAR 239 

money was invested in new plantations and mills. 
The result of this energetic effort is best expressed 
in figures. In 1914, at the beginning of the Great 
War, the sugar crop of the island of Cuba was 
2,616,346 tons ; in the season of 1918-19 the crop 
amounted to approximately 4,000,000 tons. Thus 
the republic marshalled its marvellous agricultural 
resources for the benefit of its Allies and the cause 
of freedom, writing a chapter of history of which 
the Cubans have reason to be proud. 

Like every other nation Cuba suffered economic 
disturbance by reason of the war. Before the con- 
flict the republic carried on a large trade with 
Germany and Austria, which purchased quantities 
of Cuban tobacco and were at the same time strong 
Competitors in the sugar market. The Cubans 
also found themselves handicapped by the with- 
drawal of ships for war purposes, while their 
tourist trade suffered a decline similar to that ex- 
perienced by the other West Indian winter re- 
sorts. Before the war Cuba was wonderfully well 
supplied with steamship service between the island 
and American and European ports, and there is 
little doubt that in future years the republic's 



240 CUBA, PAST AND PRESENT 

maritime communications will far exceed those 
existing prior to the world conflict. The prosperity 
of the country and its manifold attractions will 
assuredly bring about this result. 

Politically and socially Cuba experienced the 
same conflicts of policies and ideals which touched 
other nations as they surged through the world. 
The republic met its troublesome problems suc- 
cessfully, and faced the period of reconstruction 
with a firm resolve to profit by the lessons acquired 
during the period of the Great War. 



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